


Swimming with Anna

by sssssssim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Laura Hale, All Human AU, Get together fic, Kid Fic, Pre-Slash, Single Parent Derek, Slow Build, [could get angsty while i explain that. i tried not to though.], ex-professional swimmer Stiles, hot single dad Derek Hale, swimming coach Stiles, swimming pool AU, this is an almost 30k monster filled with fluff more fluff ALL THE FLUFF OKAY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-20 13:44:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1512683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles is a swimming coach at a pool in San Francisco. Anna Hale, a six year old adorable girl, is in one of his classes.<br/>Stiles falls in love with her instantly. It takes a bit longer to fall in love with her father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm a superhero, not a princess.

**Author's Note:**

> This is already written, I'll be posting as I proof read. It's almost 30k long, you have been warned. But it's the fluffiest fluff I could have ever fluffed. I'm a sucker for explaining past events, though, so that gets a weebit angsty. But just a bit. Enjoy.  
> Talk to me on [tumblr](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com). Constructive criticism is always welcomed! Unbeta'd, so please point out any mistakes I've made, I'll happily correct them.

Stiles looked over the ten kids in various swimming attire and colorful caps, all bouncing with excitement and waving at their parents, who were looking down at them from the balcony on the other side of the pool. This was only their second meeting, and Stiles was always excited to work with a new group.

He’s been swimming for years, but he never found something more enjoyable than seeing the surprise on a child’s face when the effort he put into kicking his little arms and legs paid off. And knowing that he is responsible for that, was, probably, the only thing that made Stiles’ heart beat faster. At least nowadays.

Stiles felt something tugging on his swimming shorts, but when he looked down, all he saw was a mop of black curls. Even though it was 10 am, he had been working since 6, so Stiles blinked away the last remains of his sleepiness and realized the curls belonged to a child, who was still gently tugging on his shorts.

So he pried the kid’s hand away from his clothes, holding onto it, and he crouched down so he could be at eye level with her, Stiles realized. The black curls belonged to a girl, about 6 years old, skin a bit dark in comparison to Stiles’ pale complexion, big green eyes staring curiously at him. She was wearing red flip flops and a black fluffy robe. She was absolutely adorable and Stiles was trying really hard not too coo out loud.

‘I’m here for the swimming classes’, she smiled at Stiles, blushing slightly.

‘Oh, right’, Stiles nodded, remembering the conversation he had with Lydia a couple of hours before. ‘My boss told me someone new will be joining us. Hi, I’m Stiles’, he grinned.

‘Stiles’, the girl frowned while she was saying his name. She repeated it a couple of times, and when she was satisfied that it sounded well enough, she nodded and smiled. ‘I’m Anna.’

He smiled at her and squeezed her hand a bit. ‘Who are you here with, Anna?’

‘With daddy’.

‘Hmmm’, Stiles frowned and turned her around to the balcony. ‘And which one is your daddy?’

‘That one’, she grinned and pointed to a man in the left corner. Stiles couldn’t see much, except for the dark hair and the leather jacket.

‘I should talk to him before we start the lesson.’, Stiles explained, softly. ‘Do you want to go up there with me?’

‘Nuh-uh’, Anna shook her head. ‘Let him come down’. Then, she giggled and raised her hand, beckoning her father to come down with her index finger. Stiles snorted, but he took her hand and they headed together to the other side of the pool, meeting Anna’s father on the bottom of the stairs.

And Stiles had to calm down his breathing when he saw the man, because he has never seen someone so hot in his entire life. And he’s spent most of it in locker rooms, surrounded by Olympic medalists, so that’s saying something. This guy was absolutely on a whole new level. He had dark hair that matched the bushy eyebrows and the stubble, hiding an obviously rugged jaw line. He was very well built, and the dark green t-shirt hugged his form beautifully, even if it was covered by a leather jacket. The tight black jeans paired with a pair of black boots gave the man a very bad boy look.

But the look in his eyes, whose color matched his daughter’s, the soft and caring look he gave her, that made Stiles’ heart skip a beat.

‘Is anything wrong?’, the man asked, concerned, absently petting Anna’s hair.

Stiles blinked and got out of his head, letting go of Anna’s hand and smiling at the man.

‘No, sir. Not really. I just wanted to talk to you because this group is just madeout of boys. It just happened, somehow, so Anna would be the only girl.’

‘Is that going to be a problem?’, the man frowned.

‘It shouldn’t be’, Stiles assured. ‘Not from my point of view, or from the kids’. But some parents have expressed their concern in the past. There’s another group with me today at 11 and one at 2. You could come by then.’

‘Is that going to be a problem, Anna?’, her father asked. ‘That it’s going to be just you and some boys?’

‘Nope’, she grinned, looking up at her father. ‘I’m better than them, anyway.’

Stiles snorted and he knew it was incredibly unattractive, but he couldn’t help it. Meanwhile, the guy rolled his eyes so dramatically, Stiles was afraid they would explode.

‘Let me guess, Aunt Laura told you that?’

‘Yup’, Anna grinned, untroubled.

Her father sighed, but he was smiling. And that made Stiles smile.

‘That answers your question, then.’, he said to Stiles, gently shoving Anna towards him.

‘Right. I’m Stiles, by the way.’

The guy arched an eyebrow.

‘Stiles Stilinski’, he continued, untroubled.

‘Really?’, the man frowned.

Stiles shrugged. ‘Not really, but Stilinski’s the real deal and I’ve been calling myself Stiles since forever, you really don’t want to hear the alternative. Plus’, he grinned, ‘it’s easier for the kiddies. Right, Anna?’

‘Stiles!’, she grinned. ‘Stiles St-Stil’, she frowned and pouted. Then, she tried again. ‘Stiles Stilniffi.’

‘Let’s stick with Stiles, shall we?’, he laughed.

‘Okay. Can we go swimming now?’, she grinned, taking a hold of his hand.

‘It was nice meeting you, sir’, Stiles told her father, who hasn’t introduced himself yet, too busy smiling at his daughter like she hung the moon. She probably did, Stiles thought.

‘I’m Derek Hale.’, he finally said. ‘You should go before she dislocates your shoulder’.

And Stiles finally caved in, letting Anna literally drag him away towards the other end of the pool, where the rest of the boys were waiting for them. When she paused in her path to get out of her flip-flops and robe, Stiles grinned when he saw her bright red Iron Man bathing suit.  

(✿◠‿◠)

The lesson went fairly well, Stiles thought. He started with 10 minutes of easy gymnastics exercises with the kids, getting them warmed up. Then, he sat them all down in a line at the edge of the pool, on their bellies, with their feet in the water. They spent the next 10 minutes practicing their feet movement, and after that, he switched their positions for another 10, so that their hands were in the water and they practiced that.

The kids seemed to be having fun, but Stiles saw they still had a lot of energy left and they were excited to get into the water, growing impatient. So he gave them all plastic and foam swimming aids, talking with each of them and making sure they were comfortable. Stiles got in the pool with them, making sure they all stood in a single lane, not interrupting the other swimmers and making it easier for him to keep his students safe.

Stiles made his way from one kid to another, giving them instructions and making sure they weren’t having any issues. But the kids were all having fun, judging by the amount of giggles and laughter.

He kept a closer eye on Anna, without even realizing it. Even though she was younger than the rest of the kids (she was about 6, while the boys were all around 8 years old), she was better than them. It was clear that Anna already had some training, because her movements were more fluid than the rest of the guys in the group. She was still struggling, and she wasn’t swimming in any particular stroke, but she was moving, slowly but surely, forward; whereas the boys were mostly just moving in circles. And Anna wasn’t at all afraid of the water, she didn’t flinch when someone splashed some in her eyes, and she didn’t seem to mind when she accidentally swallowed some.

Stiles let them play around for 20 minutes, but then he made them get out of the pool. For the next 10 minutes, he planned to make them practice their feet movement some more, explaining to them that it was an important part of swimming and that if they have that down, everything else will come easily. Plus, he knew their parents will appreciate it if they left the lesson feeling tired.

So the kids were all in a line at the edge of the pool, kicking water with their feet. Stiles was at the left end of the line, and Anna was on the far right end. He doesn’t know what made him do it, maybe it was instinct, maybe it was just a bad feeling. But he looked at her in the exact moment when Adam, the boy sitting to her right, kicked her and pushed her into the pool, causing her to yelp before the water swallowed her.

Stiles vaguely heard Derek screaming for his daughter, but it didn’t really register. He ran along the edge of the pool for a couple of feet, yelling at the kids to get out of the water. Then he jumped over the row of boys struggling to push themselves up on the edge of the pool, but he made sure to jump high enough and not kick any one of them. When Stiles got to Anna, she had her eyes shut tight and she was keeping a hand over her nose and mouth. She was kicking her feet as fast as she could, and she was moving towards the surface, but it was a slow process.

Stiles grabbed her by the waist, quickly getting her to the surface. When her head was out of the water, he started talking to her, telling her that she’s okay and how brave and smart she was, gently removing her hand from her face. Anna quickly put her hands around Stiles’ neck and held on until they got to the edge of the pool.

Derek was there and he quickly grabbed Anna from Stiles’ hands, not caring that he was getting his clothes wet, holding on to her tight and kissing her forehead. Stiles couldn’t tell if she was crying or not, but he heard Anna telling her dad that she was okay, comforting him too.

Stiles took a deep breath and took a step towards Derek.

‘Is she okay?’

‘Yeah’, he nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off her.

‘Okay, kids. Class dismissed. Go get changed. Adam, please stay behind.’, Stiles yelled, while grabbing a towel and running it quickly over his body.

The group ran away from there, and Adam grinned while he wrapped himself in his bathrobe. It made Stiles’ blood boil. But when he saw Adam’s mother make her way towards them, he pushed it down and straightened his back.

‘Mrs. Down’, he said, as calmly as possible, vaguely remembering that her husband was a well known lawyer.

‘Adam, what is it taking so long?’, she said, annoyed.

‘Madam’, Stiles said calmly, ‘Adam kicked Anna here, and shoved her into the pool. Thankfully, Anna wasn’t hurt, but that doesn’t make it better’, he said with a pointed look at Adam. Who just rolled his eyes, much to Stiles’ disgust.

‘I’m sure that didn’t happen’, his mother smiled sweetly.

‘It happened’, Derek practically growled. The woman didn’t even look in his direction.

‘I saw it happen. And so did all the security cameras, if we’re being thorough.’, Stiles nodded. ‘And, as you can see, Adam is just going around with his day, like nothing happened. He needs to understand that what he did was very wrong.’

When he looked at Adam, the kid just raised an eyebrow and made his way towards his mother, grabbing onto her hand.

‘I’m sure you’re making a big deal out of nothing.’, she shrugged, making a move to leave.

‘We’re not’, Stiles insisted, stopping her. ‘Anna could’ve easily drowned if she hadn’t reacted so calmly and if I weren’t fast enough.’

‘So you were doing your job, while they were just playing like children?’, she raised an eyebrow and Stiles absolutely hated when crappy women looked down at him with superiority, but once again, he pushed down the angry response he would’ve liked to give.

So he turned toward the boy. ‘Adam, why did you push Anna into the pool?’

‘She was kicking me.’

‘How was she kicking you?’, Stiles asked, before Derek got to say anything, even though he opened his mouth.

‘With her feet. You told us to kick the water up-down, but she was doing the hugging thing.’

‘What does that even mean?’, his mother frowned.

‘I asked the boys to do the crawl technique, while I asked Anna to do the breaststroke.’

‘Why were you playing favorites?’

‘I wasn't. It’s just that it was clear that Anna had more training beforehand and she already knew how to do the crawl technique.’

‘Whatever’, she waved it off. ‘I don’t care, it doesn’t matter. Adam, let’s go, you’ll catch a cold.’

‘Wait!’, Stiles hissed. ‘Work with me here, Mrs. Down. We have to make Adam understand that what he did was wrong and that he shouldn’t do it again.’

‘Come on’, she chuckled. ‘They’re children. Of course they’re going to fight. It’s not the first time and it surely won’t be the last time.’

Stiles took a deep breath and spared a glance at Derek, who was glaring daggers at the woman.

‘Mrs. Down’, Stiles hissed, ‘either you work with me here, or I’m going to have to ask you to leave.’

‘That’s what I was doing.’

‘No, I’m going to ask you to leave the program.’, Stiles explained. ‘You will get your money back, but Adam will not be attending out teaching program again.’

She puffed. ‘I want to talk to your supervisor, this is not professional behavior.’

‘I want to speak with your supervisor too’, Derek cut in. ‘Considering it’s my child who almost drowned.’

Stiles heart sunk a bit, at the thought of Derek filing a complaint against him too, but when he looked over at the man, he was still glaring at the woman. He glanced once at Stiles, for half a second, but Stiles saw understanding in Derek’s eyes. That made him nod and lead the way to Lydia’s office.

He stopped at the front desk, where he quickly removed his swimming shorts, revealing a basic Speedo knee-length swimsuit underneath. Erica, who was in charge of the reception, was already handing him a dry towel and pushing his wet towel and shorts out of the way, smiling reassuringly at him. Stiles wrapped the towel around his waist, and when he looked up, Derek was watching him with a raised eyebrow.

‘Lydia hates when I drip on her carpet’, he explained, resuming his way towards her office.

When they got into Lydia’s office, she sat up from her desk and shook hands with both of the parents. She was wearing a pink summer dress, with bright purple flowers on it, her hair up in a complicated braid. She looked gorgeous, but professional, like she always did.

Before she said anything else, she raised an eyebrow at Stiles. Who, as a response, shook his head. Considering they had known each other for years and that they wouldn’t have ended up here without one another, that was all she needed.

She asked Mrs. Down what happened, and the woman explained in an angry voice, blowing everything out of proportion, except Anna’s almost-death. She made Stiles look incredibly bad, and got all the attention away from her son.

When Lydia asked Derek if he agreed, he snorted.

‘Uh. No?’, he scoffed, raising his eyebrows. ‘Adam kicked Anna, I saw it happen. Stiles saw it, and he saved my daughter. He did absolutely nothing wrong in this situation and what she’s saying, about him being unprofessional… Sorry, Miss Martin, but that’s bullshit. If I were him, I would’ve escorted Mrs. Down out a long time ago. By her hair.’

Everybody fell silent at that, until Anna giggled.

‘Do you know who I am?’, Mrs. Down hissed at Derek, but before he got to answer, Stiles cut in.

‘Yes, we know who your husband is. Big shot lawyer, good for him. That means absolutely nothing here.’

Lydia nodded, making the woman turn to her.

‘You allow him to speak to me like that? To a superior?’

The redhead frowned. ‘Are  you? Superior to him? Do you have more than 2 golden Olympics medals and 3 World Championship ones? Or maybe you also have a double major in Psychology and Pedagogy with a masters in children's behavior issues?’

Stiles smirked at that, he always loved it when Lydia stood up for him. The parents were both staring at him by this point, Mrs. Down with anger and hate, and Derek with something resembling shock.

‘Look, Mrs. Down’, he started. ‘I don’t really _want_ to tell you how you should raise your child, I usually get paid for that. But I will tell you, from personal experience’, he spared a glance at Lydia, who nodded, ‘that if you don’t teach Adam the meaning of some very important words, such as _immoral_ and _illegal_ , he will have a pretty crappy life. And so will you. There are situations that your husband’s position will not be able to get him out of.’

‘I will sue you’, the woman hissed at Lydia, after a few seconds.

‘Not really’, she smiled. ‘I’m sure that when you go home and tell your husband what happened, and when you mention my name, he will convince you to let it go. Considering one, you have no grounds for a law suit and we can easily prove that with the recordings from our security cameras, and two, my fiancé, Jackson Whittemore, works closely with Mr. Dawn and this would not be favorable for their partnership.’

Lydia made her way toward the door and opened it, smiling sweetly. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse us, I already instructed Erica, who is managing the front desk, to give you a full refund. She’ll escort you out. Have a good day.’

Mrs. Down all but stomped outside, much to the amusement of Lydia and Stiles, who shared a look. After Lydia closed the door, she turned to Derek, who still had Anna wrapped in his arms.

‘Are you okay, sweetie?’

‘Yes, thank you. I’m sorry the mean lady yelled at you.’

Lydia smiled. ‘There’s nothing to be sorry for. That’s on the mean lady, not on you.’ Then, she turned to Stiles, expectantly.

‘Look, Mr. Hale. There’s another set of classes, Monday and Thursday.’, he started. ‘Boyd, who teaches them, is just as good as me, if not better; he’s a lot more technical, that might be more beneficial for Anna, considering the training she already has. Or, if not, we’ll gladly give you a refund too.’

Derek’s eyes grew wider, but before he got to say anything, his daughter’s voice startled him.

‘No, daddy!’, Anna said in a loud voice, grabbing her father’s face with both her hands. ‘No’, she said once again, looking into his eyes. Then, she turned to Stiles and made grabby hands at him.

He startled, visibly, but made his way towards her nonetheless. When Derek gave her to him, Anna immediately grabbed onto his neck, putting her feet around his waist.

‘I want you to teach me how to swim, Stiles. Please?’

She looked at him with big, wide eyes, and Stiles’ heart skipped a few beats.

‘Oh, melt my heart, why don’t you?’, he whispered, hugging her tightly, stroking her back while she hid her face in the crook of his neck.

‘Only if it’s alright with your daddy.’, he managed to say.

‘Oh course’, Derek agreed immediately. ‘Thank you, I don’t…’ He took a deep breath and smiled. ‘It’s just us two and my sister. I can’t…’, he was struggling with his words, but Stiles understood it either way.

‘I know. You can’t lose them.’, he smiled.

Then, he put Anna down and crouched, so that they were at eye level.

‘Okay, Princess. I’ll see you Friday, alright?’

‘Stiles’, she whined. ‘I’m not a princess.’

He blinked. ‘You’re not?’

‘I’m wearing an Iron Man swimsuit. I’m a superhero, d’uh.’

‘Oh, the deja-vu.’, he heard Lydia giggling, but he ignored her.

‘Right’, he smiled. ‘Excuse my mistake. It’ll never happen again. You should go change now, though. You will catch a cold.’

Anna kissed his cheek and took her fathers’ hand, dragging him outside of the office. Derek barely got to say a thank you to Lydia before they were gone.

Stiles closed the door behind them, banging his head on it a few times, for good measure. When he opened his eyes, Lydia was regarding him with an amused expression.

‘Let me guess’, she pointed a finger at him. ‘You want to climb that man till next Sunday.’

‘Yeah’, he sighed.

‘And you fell in love with his daughter.’

‘Instantly.’

‘Oh boy’, Lydia laughed.

‘I am so screwed.’, Stiles whined, leaving he office. He needed a huge coffee before his next group arrived.


	2. Midnight stroll

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a little bit of angst. And explanations. And Anna in all her glory. And a little bit of Derek/Stiles alone time. (while dripping wet)

Friday was not a good day for Stiles. In fact, it was the worst day of the year, the anniversary of his mother’s death. But, thankfully, he was surrounded by people who cared about him, and has been with them for years, so they knew what he needed today.

Stiles needed to work, he needed to get to the pool at 6 am and handle the reception desk until Erica came in for her shift, at 10. Then, he needed to spend the next couple of hours doing his lessons with various groups of children. After that, Lydia will ask his help with some papers, so he will spend some time locked in her office, working, until 8 pm. Then, he’ll spend the next 2 hours gossiping with Erica, who will leave for the day once Boyd picks her up, leaving Stiles in charge of the night shift too, until next morning at 6. Scott and Allison will text him random things throughout the day, and his dad will call him before he gets to sleep, telling him how his day at the police station was, in great detail, not once mentioning the late Claudia Stilinski.

That’s what Stiles needed, and that’s what the people around him will make sure he gets. He needs to work, he needs to keep his mind off things, to not think about how far San Francisco is from Beacon Hills, about how long it’s been since he’s seen his father, how long it’s been since he’s visited his mothers’ grave.

Stiles doesn’t regret moving to San Francisco, he never will. Maybe he hates the reason he got here, but in the end, it worked out pretty well for him. He’s not completely happy, not everything is perfect, but his life is in a good place right now.

Even though his father is still in Beacon Hills, Allison and Scott have also moved to the city, so have Lydia and Jackson. Considering they have been friends for about a decade now, they have a nice support system and Stiles is lucky enough to work with Lydia (which isn’t that surprising, considering she owns the swimming pool and decided upon opening it after a 5 hour long conversation with Stiles, and that he helped her organize and build it, even before actually working there).

He loves his job, he doesn’t mind tending to the reception desk, it doesn’t get boring because he’s allowed to bring things to read or watch. He doesn’t mind the night shifts either, that’s when he can afford to actually swim, because there’s fewer people passing the pool’s threshold at 2 am. Stiles absolutely adores working with the kids, he’s always been good with children and seeing the results of his work makes him truly happy, even if it is just for a couple of minutes.

Stiles also teaches a parenting class twice a week, at a community center near his apartment. He loves doing that too, seeing people who are equally happy and terrified by the fact that they’re going to be parents. And being able to help them through it, even for a little while, gives Stiles a sense of accomplishment.

But this all mean that he is, most days, surrounded by children of various ages. And he wants kids, badly. He has always wanted children, and the moment he realized he was gay hasn’t changed that at all. He’s not too old for it, 24 years old is still _young_ , according to some people; he realizes that, but Stiles also realizes that a baby is not in his future anytime soon. Or a stable boyfriend, for that matter. His last serious relationship ended about a year ago, with Stiles finding his boyfriend banging the barista from their favorite coffee shop. Because of the life that he leads, it’s going to be hard for him to meet a trustworthy guy, someone who will be worth the trouble.

And now, on the day he lost his mother, he can’t help but think of the small pain he feels in his chest every time he is holding someone else’s child, about how much he wants to call his dad and tell him that he’s going to be a grandfather. He wants to call his best friend _Uncle_ Scott and he wants Lydia to be the godmother who spoils his kid more than anyone else. He wants to have toys all over the apartment floor and he wants to change diapers and wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of a baby crying. He wants to open a college fund and buy a car seat and a high chair and every single little things a child needs.

With those thoughts in his mind, Stiles’ heart skips a beat when he sees Anna and Derek coming towards him, even if they still have 15 minutes till the lesson starts. She is wearing the same red flip-flops and black robe from last time, but she is blushing furiously and keeping her hands behind her back, while Derek is trying not to laugh, following a few steps behind her.

Stiles smiles and crouches down. ‘Hey there, sweetie.’

‘Hi, Stiles.’ She doesn’t look him in the eye, but she brings her hands from behind her back, revealing a big bag of Reese’s. She hands it to Stiles, but when he just looks at it, confused, she meets his eyes and smiles.

‘I didn’t thank you for saving my life. So thank you.’

‘You got me Reese’s?’, he asks, dumbstruck.

When she nods, Stiles can’t take the explosion that is happening in his chest, so he ungraciously collapses on the floor, crossing his feet in front of him. He takes the bag of candy from her and puts it in his lap, taking hold of her hand and kissing it gently. He realizes that he started crying, but he can’t stop or feel embarrassed about it.

‘You don’t understand how much I love Reese’s’, he whispers.

‘I do.’, Anna says back.

‘Sometimes, I love Reese’s more than I love my dad.’

‘Me too.’, she giggles.

Stiles just stares at her. He’s crying, and he can feel the tears on his cheeks, but he can’t let go of her hand and he can’t bother to look around.

‘No, Stiles’, Anna whines, stepping closer, tripping over his feet. She brings her hands around his neck and hugs him with all the power a 6 year old can. ‘Don’t be sad, I didn’t want you to be sad.’

Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Derek taking a step forward, arms stretched like he wants to catch Anna, eyes wide and panicked, trained on Stiles. But Stiles just waves him off, bringing his hands around Anna’s back and keeping her up.

‘I’m not sad anymore, Anna.’, he manages to say. ‘I just had a really _really_ bad day, an incredibly awful day, and you just made it better, so much better, thank you.’

She gives him one last squeeze, then pulls away nodding. Anna wipes the tears away from Stiles’ face with her little hands, then kisses him sweetly on both cheeks.

‘It’s okay to have bad days. But don’t be sad anymore. We’ve got swimming to do!’, she grins excitedly, and Stiles can’t help but agree with her.

‘Okay, Anna, okay. How about you say goodbye to your dad and go join the boys?’

‘Bye daddy!’, she yells without looking at her father, running towards the other part of the swimming pool, putting on her red cap and taking off her robe on the way.

A hand comes into Stiles’ vision, and when he lifts his gaze, Derek is smiling softly down at him. He takes the offered hand and gets to his feet, putting the bag of candy on the table he usually keeps his towels on.

‘Are you okay?’, Derek asks with furrowed brows.

‘Yeah, sorry. I just… This really is a shitty day and damn, your kid is really amazing, isn’t she?’

Derek doesn’t look convinced, but he seems to catch on to Stiles’ need to change the subject.

‘I think she is. But I might be biased.’

Stiles burst out laughing at that, he can’t help it. He wipes his face some more and rubs the back of his neck.

‘I’m sorry for that, Mr. Hale. It was incredibly unprofessional, but I promise you it will never happen again. Until probably next year today.’

‘Call me Derek, please. And don’t… It’s fine.’, he frowns and licks his lips, an action which is distracting Stiles from the matter at hand.

‘I assume it’s a death anniversary?’, Derek asks, incredibly soft. Stiles barely manages to nod and take his eyes off the man’s lips.

 ‘I can’t really judge you for it, I’ve had my fair share of days like this.’

‘Thank you’, Stiles manages to whisper, looking into Derek’s eyes.

‘You should take a deep breath, put on a fake happy mask and go teach the kids how to swim.’

To that, Stiles grins, as big as he can. ‘Sir, yes sir!’

The lesson goes well. If he lets the kids play in the water more than he should, nobody’s there to scold him for it. And if Anna keeps making her way to his side, Stiles is the only one that notices.

She might still be doing it at the next lesson, and Stiles might really be enjoying it.

(◡‿◡✿)

There were a few reasons why Lydia’s pool was such a success. Firstly, it was built in pretty much the perfect place for it in San Francisco, at the base of a big apartment building complex, but close enough to some suburbs. There was also a neighborhood of office buildings nearby, so they got a few clients from there. Secondly, it was made with state of the art tech and good materials, it was always clean, and it wasn’t overly expensive. Furthermore, they had lessons for kids all through the week, including the weekends, and they even offered adults the opportunity of a personal trainer to teach them the basics. But the novelty that attracted a lot of busy businessmen was that the pool was open 24/7, except for a couple of hours on Sunday night, when they changed the water.

From the employees’ perspective, that meant that they all had to take a night shift a week, but Stiles took two, usually Wednesdays and Fridays. They had a staff meeting once a month, where they would settle on a fixed schedule for their shifts. But, thankfully, Lydia and Stiles had managed to find really great people to work with, and they quickly became friends, there was always someone willing to take your shift if need be.

Erica and Boyd have been dating since highschool, and when they came together to their interviews, Lydia was more than happy to hire Erica a few days a week at the front desk, while she was finishing her master’s degree. And Stiles was more than happy to hire Boyd mainly as a trainer, because he was good at it and he handled the children perfectly. The couple also brought Isaac along, who was happy to work full time and who didn’t mind mopping the men’s locker room every now and then, or going on a coffee run. Kira was working at the pool and doing a lot of freelance work, saving up money so she could make her own line of clothing. Even Scott and Allison put in some hours every month.

But once the hours were added up, Stiles was the one who worked the most. Not just handling the reception and several groups of kids, and managing their website and facebook page, but he also helping Lydia with anything she needed, from accounting to making sure her computer was running smoothly. He helped her with every managerial decision there was to make, from what kind of soap to buy for the showers, to what company they should hire to do maintenance on the pool and its systems. In the months before they opened the doors to the pool, Stiles was there each step of the way of actually building the pool. He was at the site almost daily and no material was placed without gaining his approval.

Stiles was Lydia’s right hand man, or, how she put it, the pool’s guardian angel. ‘Devil in disguise’, his father would add every time he heard her say the phrase, but, either way, Stiles enjoyed it.

It wasn’t his lifelong dream, his goal. He already achieved that, a few years back, but that time has passed and it will never come back. Stiles knew this was the next best thing. Lydia paid him a lot more than any other employee of the pool, and he made sure to work hard enough to earn that money. He enjoyed his work, he liked his apartment, he loved his friends, he loved San Francisco. He was lonely, but he was in a good place.

Most of the time. Generally speaking.

Right now, Stiles was on the nightshift on a Wednesday night. He hadn't slept that much the night before, because he had stayed on the phone with his father for hours, helping him reinstall the operating system on his work computer. ‘I don’t trust the new IT kid’, the Sheriff said, and Stiles couldn’t really say no.

So now, it was close to 1 am, the pool was deserted and had been for the past hour. Stiles spent the last 3 hours reading, but his eyes started to water. Normally, this would be the point at which Stiles would swim a few laps. And he got ready for that, taking off his t-shirt and his shorts, putting on his speedo [swimming suit](http://store.speedo.com/p/fastskin/mens-lzr-racer-elite-jammer/806416a). People would always give him the stink eye when he wore it, thinking he was some poser with a too good opinion of himself, but Stiles couldn’t care less, the simple black suit felt like a second skin to him.

He put a sign on the reception desk ( _I’m in the pool, but I will be with you in a minute. If I’m not, please scream._ ), but before he made his way to the pool, he remembered that he was waiting for a text back from Scott. So he sat back in his chair, resting his head on the desk, thinking he’ll wait a couple of minutes until Scott texted back.

He woke up an hour and a half later, to the sound of a phone vibrating near his head. He groaned and popped his neck and back into place, and started panicking when he heard the distinct sound of someone swimming. But before he got a chance to grab the baseball bat they always kept under the desk, he realized that the phone that rang and woke him up wasn’t his. His phone was blue, this was black.

Stiles blinked the last remains of sleep from his eyes and saw that the phone had 5 new text messages from someone called Laura (she was a beautiful woman, he thought absently , and the dark hair and light green eyes reminded him of someone, even though he couldn't figure out who). Under the phone there was a piece of paper, and when Stiles got it out, he saw it was a subscription for the pool, under the name of Derek Hale.

He puffed out a sigh of relief and raised an eyebrow when he saw that Derek’s subscription was the biggest package they offered, a 6 month pass, at any hour of the day or night. It was an expensive pass, and it didn't include Anna’s lessons.

Then, he started feeling like a creep, so he put down the subscription, grabbed the phone and made his way towards the pool. Sure enough, Derek was swimming in the middle lane. And he was good. He was swimming butterfly style, so Stiles was able to see that he wasn’t wearing goggles and that he swam with his eyes closed, most of the time. The way he opened his mouth to draw in air was somewhat sinful, and the broad expense of his chest made Stiles realize that Derek worked out quite a bit.

But, alas, he wasn’t 14 anymore, and he was more than used to seeing incredibly hot guys in swimwear, so he pushed down the flash of want that pulsated deep in his stomach, and made his way towards the end of the pool.

He sat down and crossed his legs, patiently waiting for Derek to get there. When he did, he shook his head a bit, getting his wet hair out of his eyes (like a god damn puppy, Stiles thought). But then, he rested his hands on the edge of the pool and grinned.

‘Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.’

Stiles blushed, but he ignored it and glared, just for the sake of it.

‘You should have woken me up, Derek. I’ll let it pass this time, because, ya know, I shouldn’t have been asleep in the first place. But, anyways, it’s good to know you’re not a serial killer or a sex offender or a thief.’

Derek raised an eyebrow, but there was a slight uptick of his lips. ‘You’re not very good at your job, are you?’

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Oh, I don’t know, you should ask Anna about that.’

When Derek didn’t answer, he went on.

‘So, Laura texted you. Like 6 times. She’s gorgeous, Anna looks a lot like her. And good idea with leaving your phone with me, it really calmed me down, dude.’

‘Don’t called me dude.’, Derek frowned. ‘Did you read my texts?’

‘Of course not, that would be an invasion of privacy.’

Derek blinked three times, then sighed. ‘Would you please read them to me? Full disclosure, she’s insane.’

Stiles obeyed with a grin on his face.

 _Laura_ : Asleep?  
 _Laura_ : You can’t be asleep.  
 _Laura_ : YOU SHOULD BE WRITING, NOT SLEEPING.  
 _Laura_ : Derek?  
 _Laura_ : You’re gonna hate yourself when you miss your deadline.  
 _Laura_ : Don’t come crying to me then.

Derek groaned. ‘Just because she’s two years older than me doesn’t mean she gets to treat me like I’m still 12. I have a daughter, for god’s sake.’

Stiles giggled. ‘That doesn’t mean she’ll ever stop treating you like you’re 12.’

‘Could you please text her back, tell her I finished the chapters and that I’m busy and I’ll call her tomorrow?’

‘Sure’, Stiles smiled, rapidly composing the text, but taking the time to take a picture of Derek pouting, sending that too, much to his annoyance.

Laura responded before Derek got to say thank you.

 _Laura_ : This must be Stiles.  
 _Laura_ : Anna loves you.  
 _Laura_ : Break her heart and they’ll never find your body.  
 _Laura_ : Tell my brother he’s an ass.

When Derek didn’t say anything, just glared at Stiles, he took a hint.

‘I’ll let you get back to your swimming, then.’, he said, getting up. ‘Crisis adverted.’

‘Didn’t you want to swim too?’, Derek frowned.

‘I did, but I took a nap, and now I’m way to sleepy to swim.’, he waved his arms around. ‘Coffee time now.’

(✿◠‿◠)

When Derek left the pool 20 minutes later, he was wearing flipflops and a fluffy towel around his waist. He said goodbye to Stiles, assuring him that Anna was going to be at the class on Friday, and then headed towards the exit door.

‘Aren’t you gonna shower?’, Stiles shrieked. ‘Put on some clothes?’

‘No’, Derek grinned.

When Stiles was still looking at him like he was insane, he chuckled. ‘I live on the 5th floor, Stiles. I don’t even have to leave the building to get to the elevators.’

Stiles started to say something, but he didn’t. He wanted to ask Derek if he lived only with Anna or did he had a girlfriend, too. He wanted to ask what happened with Anna’s mother and what was Derek writing.

He didn’t. Instead, he stared at the way Derek’s ass swayed when he walked, and sighed deeply. Then, he made an indecent amount of coffee and continued with his reading.

(◡‿◡✿)

The next time Anna came to the swimming lesson, she brought Stiles a cup of coffee. It was a Starbucks cup, but she drew a dinosaur on it. He keeps his pens in it at home.

The next time, she brought him a peanut butter cupcake.

The next time, she brought him a slice of chocolate cake, that Laura helped her bake.

The next time, she brought him animal crackers.

Stiles was in love. With a 6 year old girl with curly hair and an obsession for Iron Man.


	3. Accidentally meet the family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some swimming, some family.

A few weeks later, Stiles was on the night shift again. But this time, he was awake when Derek came in, at 3 am. Once again, he wasn’t wearing any clothes, just a pair of [swim shorts](http://www.johnlewis.com/vilebrequin-octopus-print-swim-shorts-navy/p929217), navy blue with yellow octopuses. Stiles had a feeling Anna was responsible for them. He had a towel thrown over his shoulder, but that was it. So, of course, when he came to the desk to leave his subscription, Stiles stared at his chest for a few seconds more than it was socially acceptable.

Thankfully, Derek didn’t pick up on it. He smiled at Stiles and headed straight for the pool, stopping on the way to put his towel and flip flops on one of the lounge chairs that surrounded the space. He headed towards the middle lane, and jumped in.

Stiles spent a few minutes analyzing his technique, it really couldn’t be helped at this point, it was an occupational hazard. Derek was good. His technique was pretty much spot on, but there was room for improvement on his breathing. He wasn’t very fast, but he wasn’t trying either, that much was clear.

After 10 minutes, Stiles thought _fuck it._ He put the sign on the desk and went into the staff room to change into his swimming gear. He didn’t want Derek to think he was showing off (although he realized that was exactly what was going to happen, it always did, it’s not his fault he can’t fake being bad at swimming), so he left the swimming cap and goggles behind. He grabbed his fluffy pink towel (it used to be white, but then Lydia’s red towel happened to be there on washing day), and headed out to the pool.

Derek was taking a break when he got there, and he raised an eyebrow, not saying anything.

Stiles shrugged. ‘Do you mind?’

‘No. Won’t Lydia mind?’

‘Not really. I put the sign up. Plus, nobody comes in from 2 till 6.’

‘My name is Derek, Stiles. Not nobody.’

Stiles blinked. ‘That was the worst joke I've heard this week.’

Derek just grinned. Stiles shrugged and jumped in the water, in the lane next to him.

He didn’t see how Derek just stared at him the first two laps Stiles swam.

(✿◠‿◠)

In the hour that followed, Stiles only took three breaks, and they were never at the same time as Derek. So, when an obnoxious drum and bass song started playing (quite loudly) from the pool’s speakers, Stiles hadn’t really spoken with Derek at all.

‘What the hell is that?’, Derek asked and Stiles noticed that they were swimming next to each other.

‘That’s Scott.’, Stiles groaned, keeping his head above the water and slowing his pace a little, because Derek was following him to the end of the pool.

‘Who’s Scott?’

‘My best friend, brother from another mother, fellow employee, godfather to my unborn children, you pick. Right now though’, he took a deep breath and yelled loud enough to be heard over the music, ‘Scott is a pain in my ass!’

The music stopped 3 seconds after, right as they were getting out of the pool. Scott was grinning as he made his way towards them, but he was looking down, for reasons unknown to Stiles. He looked up when he got close to them and stopped in his tracks, eyes wide.

‘Uh, sorry. I didn’t think anybody else was here.’

Stiles sighed and grabbed his towel, making the introductions and laughing internally at the blush that was spread on Scott’s face, as he was staring at Derek.

‘What are you doing here, dude?’

At that, Scott turned to Stiles and grinned.

‘I’m here to take your shift, till Erica gets here in the morning.’

‘Why?’, Stiles narrowed his eyes.

‘Cause you have to get to the airport in an hour.’, Scott was practically bouncing on the soles of his feet.

‘Why?’, he asked, more slowly, suspiciously narrowing his eyes.

‘Cause you have to pick up your dad and my mom.’

Stiles just blinked a couple of times. Scott continued.

‘Cause they decided Christmas was too far away and they missed us so they decided to surprise us. And I just found out a couple of hours ago, so don’t look at me like you’re about to murder me for not telling you.’

‘So what you’re saying’, Stiles said after a beat, ‘is that our parents teamed up with your wife and Lydia to gang up on us.’

‘Again’, Scott nodded.

‘And this surprise trip just happened to be synchronized with the week that the pool is closed.’

‘Lydia’, was all Scott said, shrugging.

‘You’re closing the pool?’, Derek asked, reminding Stiles that he was still there.

‘Yes, we’re closing the pool.’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘I have been telling you that every time I have seen you in the past two weeks, and I’m pretty sure Anna has too.’

After a couple of seconds of glaring at each other, Derek gave in.

‘Okay, you did tell me that, but you never told me _why_ you’re closing the pool.’

‘Renovations.’, Stiles glared some more, while Derek, honest to god, pouted. Which was a weird look on a grown man who looked like a Greek god.

‘Now I have to think of something else I can do with Anna in that period of time.’

‘Did you know’, Stiles started, completely ignoring the weird looks Scott was giving him, ‘that San Francisco has a Cartoon Art Museum? And that Anna started getting interested in comic books over the past few weeks?’

‘That’s because you told her that Iron Man was a comic book, originally.’, Derek raised an eyebrow.

‘There’s also The Mechanical Museum, which is filled with 20th century penny arcade games and I know for a fact that Anna loves arcades.’

‘That’s because you told her about Pac-Man’, Derek’s other eyebrow joined the first.

‘There’s also the Ripley’s Believe it or not! Museum, which, I don’t think I need to explain to you how amazingly awesome it is. Or you know, you could just do the basics, like the Walt Disney Family Museum or the one that is called… wait for it!... San Francisco’s Children Museum!’

Derek narrowed his eyes. ‘How many cups of coffee have you had today?’

‘Define today.’, Stiles shrugged. ‘Cause I only had one after 12 pm. If you’re defining _today_ as _since I woke up_ , then it’s a 4.’

‘Are you okay to drive?’

The question and the concerned look on Derek’s face surprised Stiles, but he grinned to hide it. ‘Sure I can, man.’

Derek just shook his head and started walking away. ‘It was nice meeting you, Scott. Enjoy your vacation.’

Stiles stared at his ass, of course he did, it was mandatory by this point, it couldn’t be helped. When he came back to Earth, Scott was looking at him with a highly skeptical and judgmental look.

‘You have some explaining to do.’, was all he said.

Stiles blushed and started walking towards the showers. ‘Good thing I have to hurry to get to the airport.’

(◡‿◡✿)

Having his dad and Scott’s mother (even though Stiles constantly referred to Melissa as his adoptive mom) over for a week made Stiles incredibly happy. They were both sleeping at Stiles’ apartment, because Scott and Allison’s was barely big enough for the two of them. But Stiles didn’t mind, sleeping on the couch for a few days, so that his father could take his room and Mrs. McCall could take the guest room (which was already set up for a woman’s stay, considering Lydia helped Stiles decorate it and she was the one who usually used it).

Plus, he got all the perks of living with your parents: Melissa made them dinner and his dad made them breakfast. There would always be a hot cup of coffee waiting for him when he woke up, there was always someone there to help fold his laundry, the dishes were never dirty. Plus, he was surrounded by the people he had missed the most. His father and Melissa are the only reasons he sometimes regrets leaving Beacon Hills, they’re the only important people Stiles and Scott had left behind.

So Stiles was happy. And his dad was happy, and Melissa was happy, and Scott and Allison were happy and even Lydia came around every now and then and seemed happy.

Even though they’ve been to San Francisco a couple of dozen times already, there were always new things the Sheriff and Melissa wanted to see. But Scott and Allison still had to work this week, so Stiles was stuck with them, sightseeing through the city.

He didn’t mind, not at all, considering they were now in the Cartoon Art Museum, which Stiles never got to see, even though it had been on his list for years. He was discussing every work they saw with his father, meaning they’d end up bickering more often than not, because they never could agree over comic books or films or tv. It had always been like this, it wasn’t going to change after 24 years. They were having fun, though. Even Melissa was enjoying herself, even if she only came for their sake.

So, of course, Stiles was very surprised when he felt someone grabbing his hand. He looked down, and all he saw was a mop of black curls, on a vaguely pink background. He had a deja-vu moment when he recognized the hair. But before he got to say anything, his father grabbed his attention, saying a very concerned _Son?_.  

After he made sure his dad was just confused, Stiles laughed and bent down, picking Anna up and blowing a raspberry on her cheek, while she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. She was wearing a pink tutu skirt, with matching pink leggings underneath, a simple black t-shirt and a pair of yellow sneakers. She looked 10 times more adorable than when Stiles saw her in her swimming suit, he thought.

‘Anna, sweetie, where’s your daddy? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like it when he doesn’t know where you are.’

‘He was taking too long in that last room. I told him I’ll wait for him in the next.’, she mumbled into Stiles’ neck, but all the while she was watching the Sheriff and Melissa with a curious expression.

Stiles grinned and talked a little louder, hoping Derek would hear him and not freak out when he doesn’t see Anna next to him.

‘Good girl. Now, let me introduce you to my dad here, I told you about him before, he’s a Sheriff’, he winked at her, ‘and Mrs. McCall, she’s my best friends’ mom.’

Anna didn’t say anything, but now she was looking at the Sheriff with big, wide eyes.

Stiles held her a bit tighter and nodded to the grownups.

‘Dad, Mrs. McCall, this is Anna. She’s a superhero, not a princess’, he fake whispered, ‘and she’s the best swimmer in her group.’

They both smiled, and told her they’re glad to meet her.

Anna blushed furiously, and she was digging her little fist into Stiles’ back, but she smiled and looked towards the Sheriff again.

‘Are you really Stiles’ dad?’

‘Yes I am. Why?’

‘Stiles keeps telling Daddy that he was worse than me as a baby, but Daddy doesn’t believe him. He’ll believe you, cause you’re a Sheriff.’

‘Worse?’, Melissa frowned, while Stiles was biting his lip to keep from laughing.

‘I’m too ener…e-ner…’, she frowned and pouted and Stiles saw Melissa’s mama mode button being pushed, judging by the loving expression on her face.

‘You’re too energetic.’, Stiles helped her. ‘You have too much energy and your daddy can’t keep up.’

‘But you were worse’, she frowned some more.

The Sheriff chuckled. ‘I can promise you that he was.’

‘Anna, I swear to god if you’re not in this room, I will lock away the ice-cream for a week!’, Derek hissed angrily when he stormed into the room, only to freeze when his eyes landed on his daughter and the group.

‘Not the ice-cream!’, Stiles and Anna said at the same time. Then they immediately burst into giggles, while the other three people rolled their eyes.

Derek cautiously took a few steps forward, frowning and looking between the Sheriff and Melissa.

‘Stiles.’, was all he said.

He rolled his eyes. ‘Hello, Derek. How are you on this fine day?’

‘Confused as to why you’re here.’

‘Here, at the museum that I recommended to you?’, he glared, but he realized it lacked force. ‘I’ve wanted to see it for years, never got the chance. Thankfully, these two gave me a reason. And on that note, Derek, this is Scott’s mother, Melissa McCall and my father-‘

‘Sheriff Stilinski’, Derek interrupted quickly, eagerly extending his hand towards him. ‘Hi. I’m Derek Hale.’

The Sheriff shook his hand, but he was frowning. ‘Hale?’

Derek took a deep breath and absently petted Anna’s hair. ‘Yes, sir. Hale. Uh… I haven’t seen you in years.’

It was Stiles’ turn to frown, along with Anna. Neither of them said anything.

The Sheriff’s questioning look softened instantly, and he smiled. ‘It’s good to see you’re okay, son. And that you have such a beautiful daughter.’

At that, Anna blushed some more, and tried to bury her head deeper into the crook of Stiles’ neck, not taking into account the hand Derek had in her hair. Stiles giggled when Derek’s knuckles brushed over his pulse point.

‘Why don’t you come here, Anna?’, he said, exasperated. ‘I’m sure Stiles is tired of holding you up.’

‘Okay’, she nodded, but before grabbing for Derek, she sweetly kissed Stiles’ cheek, even adding a _mwaaaaah_ sound effect, much to her father’s exasperation, and to the Sheriff’s and Melissa’s amusement.

‘Daddy, look’, she whispered once she was in his arms. ‘Mrs. McChall has curlier hair than me.’

‘It’s McCall, Anna’, Derek corrected. ‘Mrs. McCall.’

‘Mrs. Mc-Call has curlier hair than me. You said there wasn’t anybody with worse hair than mine. You lied!’, she pouted and poked her father’s cheek, earning a snort from Melissa and a chuckle from the Stilinski men.

‘You should tell that to Aunt Laura next time she tries to comb your hair.’

Anna’s eyes grow wide with fear and she shrieks ‘You said you wouldn’t let her do that again! Daddy, no!’

Derek grinned. ‘I promise I won’t let her do that again _if_ you promise to stay by my side when we’re out.’

Anna thought for a few seconds, but then she nodded. ‘Okay.’

‘Sorry for the interruption’, Derek smiled at Stiles, moving his eyes towards the Sheriff and Melissa. ‘We should get going, I think someone’s due for a nap.’

‘It was nice seeing you’, the Sheriff smiled, and Stiles saw that he meant it.

‘You too, sir. Enjoy your stay in San Francisco.’

He started walking away, but then he stopped and looked down at his daughter.

‘Say goodbye, Anna.’

‘Bye Mrs. Mc-Call, bye Mr. Sheriff, bye Stiles.’

‘Bye, sweetie’, Stiles took a step forward and kissed her forehead, he couldn’t really help it. ‘See you in a few days.’

‘I’ll get you a lollipop’, she whispered.

‘You do that.’, he laughed, finally raising his eyes towards Derek, who was looking at them with a fond smile. ‘See you soon, Derek.’

‘Bye, Stiles.’

(✿◠‿◠)

His father didn’t tell Stiles where he knew Derek from. Melissa didn’t either, but Stiles was sure she knew too, judging by the whispered conversations the two were having behind his back.

Stiles left them alone. Maybe Derek would tell him.

(◡‿◡✿)

Before going to bed that night, the Sheriff hugged Stiles tightly, and when he let go, he smiled and told him something that made his heart ache.

‘Today was the first time I saw you interact with one of the kids you’re teaching. You’re going to be a great father someday, Stiles. And I can’t wait for it.’

Stiles barely managed to whisper back a ‘Me too.’

(✿◠‿◠)

The next time Stiles had the night shift, he planned on watching all of the Disney DVDs he had. He did that from time to time, for no reason other than the fact that he enjoyed them.

It was 2 am and he had just finished with Snow White, when the doors to the pool banged open, and a panicked Derek came in, holding a crying Anna. She was still in her pajamas, but with her yellow pair of sneakers on, and Derek was wearing a pair of sweatpants, a tank top and a leather jacket.

Stiles was on his feet in the blink of an eye. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘I am so sorry’, Derek said, holding Anna a bit tighter, ‘but I can’t find a babysitter at this time of night and the neighbor who usually helps me is on holiday.’

‘You didn’t answer my question. What’s wrong?’, Stiles said, walking around the desk and absently stroking Anna’s hair.

‘Laura was in a car accident’, Derek whispered, kissing his daughter’s temple.

Stiles took a deep breath and nodded. ‘How much damage is there?’.

Derek visibly startled at that, a look of shock passing through his eyes, but it was gone in a flash. He shook his head and answered in a stronger voice than before.

‘She’s fine. A broken arm and a small concussion, but she’ll be fine, completely fine. The ER gave her strong painkillers when she was unconscious, and she has a history of abuse, so they won’t let her leave alone. It will just take an hour or two, tops. Please, I don’t want her in a hospital.’

Stiles nodded before Derek was even finished. ‘Of course. Come on Anna’, he kissed the top of her head, ‘I was just gonna watch The Little Mermaid.’

‘No you weren’t’, she mumbled through her quiet sobs.

‘Nu-huh, yes I was. See, I got the DVD right here.’

After a few seconds of just staring at the DVDcase in Stiles’ hand, and after a few sniffles, she nodded. She kissed her father’s cheek and told him to be careful and not drive too fast. Then, she made grabby hands at Stiles.

When he took her from Derek’s hands, she held onto his neck, her nose touching the underside of his jaw.

‘Write down your number’, Stiles said to Derek, gesturing to the pen and papers that were always left on the desk, for the suggestion box. ‘Just in case something happens. I assure you that it won’t, but better safe than sorry’.

Derek quickly wrote his number down, thanked him three more times and kissed Anna five more times before finally leaving.

Stiles managed to calm Anna down quickly enough, but she refused to let go of him. So he put down a couple of big fluffy towels on the ground, in front of the desk, dragged his laptop there, and sat down holding Anna, watching The Little Mermaid with her. She didn’t fall asleep, which surprised Stiles, and halfway through she got hungry. So he got her some fruits and almonds, after texting Derek and asking him about allergies.

Thankfully, nobody came to swim at that time of night, because Stiles was too concerned to actually deal with that.

The doors opened just as the movie ended, and a woman came running through. She had long dark hair, curled like Anna’s, bright green eyes like Derek’s, and objectively, Stiles thought she was beautiful. But she had dark circles under her eyes, and she was a bit pale, with a few cuts on her cheekbones. Her left hand was in a cast, and Stiles quickly realized she was Derek’s sister.

She didn’t say anything, just marched towards them, and Anna shrieked a happy ‘Laura!’, jumping out of Stiles’ hands and running straight towards her aunt’s outstretched arms.

Derek came in then, looking a lot calmer than two hours before, and Stiles breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t say anything, and Stiles didn’t either. Eventually, they both looked at the girls, where Laura was kissing Anna all over her face, and she was shrieking in delight.

After a few more seconds, Laura raised her eyes to look at Stiles. She looked up and down his body, and Stiles was flustered, but he held his ground. He wasn’t self conscious anymore, hadn’t been for a long time. He was confident enough about his sexuality, so he didn’t mind when pretty ladies checked him out, even if he knew there would be no end to it.

‘You must be Stiles’, she smiled, finally.

‘Laura’, he smiled back. ‘Are you feeling okay?’

‘Much better now’, she held Anna tighter.

‘Thank you’, Derek said, putting a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder.

‘It was my pleasure. While I regret the circumstances, I got to watch The Little Mermaid with my favorite superhero in the world.’, he winked as Anna giggled.

‘Did you now?’, Laura raised an eyebrow. ‘Did you have a good time, pumpkin?’

‘Yes’, Anna grinned. ‘Stiles sang with me and it was fun, cause he knows the lyrics, not like Daddy!’

Stiles snorted and Derek blushed.

‘Yeah, well, your father is too busy being your father and taking care of you, he doesn’t have time to learn the songs, no matter how cool they are.’, Stiles chuckled and shook his head.

Anna nodded and turned towards her aunt. ‘See? Better than Daddy!’

‘Hey’, Derek whined, while trying to hide his amusement, ‘I get you toys and food and tuck you in.’

Anna frowned, so Stiles cut in.

‘Daddies are the best. Always and forever.’, he agreed. Seeing Laura’s narrowed eyes, he bowed his head. ‘Aunts are pretty cool too.’

Derek rolled his eyes while his sister grinned. He took a step towards Stiles and smiled. ‘I don’t know how to thank you for tonight.’

‘You don’t have too, it was-‘

‘Dinner!’, Laura interrupted, causing both of the men to look at her. ‘You should come to dinner tomorrow night.’, she explained. ‘Derek and I make a mean lasagna.’

‘Please, Stiles!’, Anna looked up at him with big eyes.

He wanted to decline, but Anna was fluttering her eyelashes at him, Laura was watching him intently and she seemed intrigued, and Derek was smiling, even though he was trying hard not to. But then, he startled visibly, and frowned.

‘Wait, no. You don’t have to, if your father and Mrs. McCall are still in town. We don’t want to take you away from your time with them.’

Stiles shook his head. ‘They left yesterday, actually.’

‘So you’re coming.’, Laura stated.

‘Apparently so. I’ll make some cupcakes.’ Derek opened his mouth to say something, but Stiles cut him off, sparing a glance at Anna. ‘Sugar free, completely organic, kinda healthy and absolutely delicious cupcakes.’

‘I’ll text you the address.’, Derek smiled.

‘You mean the apartment number.’, Stiles snorted, making the other man roll his eyes.

Anna insisted on kissing him goodbye, and he let her, but not without blowing a raspberry on her neck in response, much to her aggravation and her family’s amusement.


	4. Backgrounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles has dinner with the Hales.

Stiles slept for the first half of the day, like he usually did after a night shift. It was already 1 pm when he woke up, and the Hales were expecting him at 5. So he drank a cup of coffee, baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing and took a shower.

He put on his favorite pair of red jeans and a black and grey plaid button-down, and called Scott, hoping his best friend would help him calm down, because he was very nervous. Yes, he absolutely loved Anna and he was excited at the prospect of spending an evening with her, but Stiles also had a huge teenage crush on Derek, and Laura kind of reminded him of Lydia. So, Stiles was nervous and excited and shaking in anticipation and fear.

Scott was no help, considering he laughed at Stiles for 10 minutes straight, until Allison had enough of it and grabbed the phone from her husband. She gave Stiles a nice pep talk that managed to calm him down a bit. Even if she called him a dumbass and an idiot about a dozen times, she also told him that he’s a wonderful human being, and that he’s fun and caring and smart. Allison reminded him that Anna loves him and that parents were inclined to care about people who cared about their children.

‘I don’t really expect anything, Allison’, Stiles explained. ‘From him. I don’t expect there to be an _us_ , you know? This is not a date.’

‘Okay’, she agreed. ‘Then don’t act like you’re about to go on a date. This is just a chill dinner with a few people that can maybe become your friends. Chill out, Stiles. Go have some fun.’

Allison did calm him down, just like she always did. So when Stiles arrived in front of apartment 504 above the pool, he had a big smile on his face, a dozen delicious cupcakes, a bottle of wine for Derek, a bouquet of white roses for Laura and an old Iron Man comic for Anna, which was a double from his collection.

Laura opened the door, quickly giving him a once over and nodding appreciatively. She was wearing jeans and a large green Henley that obviously belonged to Derek, but brought out her beautiful eyes even more. She was barefoot and her toes were painted bright pink.

‘Are those for me?’, she grinned, eyeing the flowers.

‘Sure are, m’lady’, Stiles smiled, handing her the bouquet.

She took it and buried her nose in them, humming and nodding her head. ‘Come on in’, she finally said, turning around and heading into the apartment. Stiles followed her inside, toeing off his shoes and closing the door behind him.

He walked into a big open space, with a couch and an entertainment center surrounded by a bookcase on the left, that were cast in a yellow light because of the big windows that were in the wall. On the right there was a dining table that was already set, and a bar that led to the kitchen, which had bright red tiles and pale pink cupboards. Everything in the living room was made of dark wood, the floor tiles a lighter shade, but just as warm. The walls were painted a muted orange, but there was color everywhere. The couch was purple, with red and yellow throw pillows on it. Yellow and green beanbags were beside it, and small, red carpets were placed here and there. There were toys all over the place, plushies and cars, puzzles and Lego bricks. The bookcase was packed with books, old and new, and with pictures of Anna.

‘I love your place’, Stiles said, after a few moments of looking in awe around the room.

‘Thank you’, Derek said, appearing behind Stiles, startling him. ‘Please excuse the mess’, he continued, completely ignoring Stiles’ yelp, ‘It’s impossible to keep a place tidy with a 6 year old running around.’

Stiles took a moment to look at the man before him. He was wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a dark grey t-shirt. He was barefoot and he looked at ease and comfortable, but his hair was still perfectly styled.

Derek didn't seem to notice the pause, so Stiles took a deep breath and grinned. ‘I don’t know man, it’s pretty cozy. I’d leave my action figures around too, if I didn’t have to at least pretend I’m a functional adult, that is.’

He then handed Derek the bag he was still holding. ‘As promised, delicious healthy cupcakes. And a bottle of wine for you and a comic book for Anna.’

‘You didn’t have to do that’, Derek frowned, but took the bag nonetheless.

‘Not a problem. You are cooking me dinner, after all. My dad taught me to be polite.’, he winked. ‘And I had two copies of the comic book, so it’s not like I was using it. Luckily for you, it’s one of the more … mild ones, almost age appropriate.’

But before Derek got a chance to respond, Anna came running from a hallway that probably led to the bedrooms, yelling for Stiles and not stopping until she reached him. Stiles let out an _oomph_ when they collided, but he chuckled and bent down to pick her up.

Anna was wearing a bright red dress, that was breezy and fell in waves till above her knees, and it had a big bow on the chest, right under the neckline. She didn’t have any shoes on, but she was wearing a pair of white tights. Her hair was up in a complicated braided pony tail. She looked absolutely beautiful and Stiles’ heart skipped a beat when she kissed his cheek.

‘You look lovely, Anna.’

‘We match’, she said, pointing at his jeans. ‘We’re both little red riding hood!’

Stiles laughed. ‘Sure, why not? Who’s the big bad wolf, then?’

‘Daddy’s always the wolf.’, she nodded, serious. Then, she leaned forward a bit and whispered into his ear: ‘He growls really loud and he’s really scary, but if you tickle him, he lets you get away.’

Stiles laughed loudly, sparing a look at Derek who was shaking his head and blushing. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’

‘I’m starving’, Laura whined, coming into the room and taking the bag from Derek. ‘Mhhh, wine is an acceptable drink for lasagna, right?’

‘Any alcohol is acceptable for you, Laura’, Derek rolled his eyes, but followed her to the kitchen. He looked over his shoulder and nodded at Stiles. ‘How about you put her down and we eat? Anna, wash your hands.’

‘I’ll go with you’, Stiles complied.

‘I have green apple soap! Do you like it? I love it!’, the girl grinned, taking his hand and guiding him down the hall. Stiles still heard Derek’s loud sigh and Laura’s bright chuckle, and it made him smile.

(◡‿◡✿)

When they sat down for dinner, Derek sat at the head of the table that was the closest to the kitchen, with Anna and Laura at his right and Stiles at his left. The lasagna was delicious, the wine was good, Anna was adorable and hilarious, Stiles was trying really hard not to look at Derek all the time, and Laura was trying really hard to only look at Stiles.

They filled time with comfortable conversations, joking and listening to whatever Anna had to say. Stiles was enjoying himself, so of course the moment Derek brought out the cupcakes, things took a turn for the worse.

‘So, Stiles, you’re from Beacon Hills. How did you end up in San Francisco, working at a swimming pool?’, Laura asked after devouring a cupcake, genuinely curious.

‘That’s a long story’, Stiles said softly, looking at Anna, who got bored with their conversation and started drawing. ‘And it can get kind of depressing, if you don’t look at it the right way.’

‘You don’t have to tell us anything’, Derek said in an understanding tone.

‘Even though I’m sure you already know _our_ depressing story’, Laura said, a lot colder than before.

Stiles frowned. ‘I really don’t. I… I kinda figured you’re from Beacon Hills too, but that’s as far as I went. Dad wouldn’t tell me anything, he said it’s not any of my business, so I didn’t push.‘

Laura blinked. Then, she sighed. ‘Derek’s right, you don’t have to tell us anything.’

But Stiles smiled. ‘It’s fine, I don’t mind. Not really. You should know, it makes things easier in the long run’, he said with a pointed look towards Anna.

‘My mom used to take me swimming. Since I was five.’, Stiles started talking with a small smile on his face. ‘I was good, so she took me to proper lessons. She died when I was 8, but I went on with swimming. It was a release, as much as it was a way to commemorate her, you know?’ He looked towards Derek, who was watching him with a clenched jaw, but an understanding look in his eyes. It helped Stiles continue.

‘It was hard, and I had a lot of problems in dealing with her death. Me and Dad both. But we managed, somehow. Uh, so, fast forward a few years. I was 16 when I went with the American team to the summer Olympics.’

’16?’, Laura shrieked, making Stiles chuckle.

‘Yup. Just old enough to be allowed to attend. I already had a few medals under my belt, a few national ones and one or two international ones. I was the youngest swimmer in our team, and with them, uh. We won gold in a team event, and I won one in an individual. Surprised the hell out of everyone. Good times.’, Stiles laughed.

‘But the next year, I went skiing with Scott and his wife, Allison, Lydia and her fiancé, Jackson, and some other friends from high school. I was in an accident, and it was pretty bad. I banged up my knee and my back, and the doctors told me I was never going to swim professionally again.’

‘Oh god’, Laura whispered, sadly. Stiles didn’t look up, because he didn’t want to see her looking at him with pity. So he went on.

‘I was in physical therapy for about a year, and it was hard, mentally and physically. But everybody was very supportive, my dad and Mrs. McCall, Scott and Lydia, I… I wouldn’t be sane right now if it wasn’t for them.’

‘So during that year and the ones that followed, I focused on school. I was never bad at it, I always had good grades, even with all the training I did. So I finished high school with a really high score. And I’ll never forget the day when’, he laughed. ‘It was the summer before our senior year, and Scott and Allison were over at mine, we were watching a movie. And Lydia just waltzed in, hands full of college pamphlets, application forms and scholarships. And when dad came home, a couple of hours later, found his living room full of papers and stuff… Lydia just looked at him with a huge grin on her face. _Sheriff, we’ll all be going to San Francisco for college. How does that sound?_ The look on his face was absolutely priceless.’

‘What did you study?’, Laura asked and when Stiles looked up, she was smiling.

‘Psychology, mainly. Some pedagogy on the side, and I did my master's in children's behavior. College was good, especially because I had Scott and Allison and Lydia by my side. We’re all a bit damaged, you know? But we help each other out.’

‘What about the pool?’, Derek asked.

Stiles grinned. ‘That was… probably the biggest gamble Lydia ever made. And she did it for me, no matter what she says’, he laughed. ‘Her parents are pretty rich. And she got her master's in business and management. So, when we were both out of school, she came to me with a sketched draft of a business proposal, for the swimming pool. I thought she was insane, but she made some pretty good arguments. I tried to tell her that I don’t need it, she said it was a good business opportunity. We spent the next few months going over every possible detail, from the color of the door knobs to the advertising campaign.’

‘You did all that by yourselves?’, Laura asked, in awe.

‘Yup. We are pretty good at our jobs, you know’, Stiles chuckled. ‘So that’s pretty much it. I’m not just a trainer at the pool. I handle more shifts than anybody else, I work with the kids and even train some adults every now and then. I help Lydia with anything she needs, from managing the facebook page to accounting. And twice a week I teach a parenting class at a local community center.’ Stiles shrugged. ‘It’s a pretty good deal, considering everything.’

They were all silent for a few long moments, until Anna put down her crayons with a loud bang, and giggled loudly.

‘Look, Stiles! I drew us as little red riding hood, and Daddy is chasing us!’

Seeing the stickman with red pants and brown eyes, and the smaller one with green eyes and dark curly hair, followed by a mess of dark lines, that had green eyes and fangs, Stiles burst out laughing.

‘I am so keeping that’, he told Anna, snatching the drawing from her hands. ‘It’s going on my fridge.’

‘Okay’, Anna grinned. ‘I’ll draw another one for our fridge.’

‘Do you wanna hear our depressing story?’, Laura asked after a few moments, startling Stiles. When he looked at her, she was looking at Derek.

‘Not really’, Stiles answered. ‘I could probably find out by myself. I’m pretty good at research, I’m a Google god and I know how to remotely access my dad’s office computer.’

‘Really?’, Derek asked in a deadpan voice.

‘For the sake of your plausible deniability, I’m gonna answer that with no’, Stiles winked.

‘So why haven’t you done that by now?’, Laura frowned.

‘I understand secrets.’

Laura scoffs. ‘It’s not really a secret.’

‘So tell me then, if you think I should know.’, Stiles challenged.

‘When I was 16’, Derek started talking, looking down at his daughter, ‘I fell in love with a woman who was older than me. Who used me to get information and then burnt our house down, with all our family in it.’

‘You’re the Hales from the Hale house fire.’, Stiles whispered after a beat.

‘So you do know.’, Laura smirked.

‘I was really hoping it was just a name coincidence.’, Stiles said, sadly.

‘I still live in Beacon Hills, you know’, Laura said, nudging his knee with her foot, bringing everyone out of the bad mood. ‘Everybody knows about the Sheriff’s ban on all things fried or sugary.’

Derek snorted, while Stiles grinned. ‘Damn right.’

‘That’s a bad word’, Anna frowned. ‘You need to put a dollar in the swear jar.’

‘Sorry, sweetie’, Stiles said. ‘Aren’t you a bit young to have a swear jar?’

‘I don’t, Daddy and Laura have. I get to use the money from it to buy superhero stuff.’

‘That sounds like a great arrangement’, Stiles agreed, while trying to hold in his laughter.

‘It’s really not’, Derek sighed. ‘Especially after Laura visits.’

‘This time’, Anna nodded enthusiastically, ‘I’m gonna get a Captain America t-shirt.’

‘Hey, I have one of those’, Stiles smiled. ‘They’re cool.’

‘So cool’, Anna agreed.

‘Am I the only one who thinks it’s weird that a 6 year old girl wants the same t-shirt as a 30 year old man?’, Derek asked with a dejected look in his eyes.

‘Yes’, Stiles and Anna said at the same time.

‘But’, Stiles continued with a pointed look, ‘I’m only 24.’

‘Are you single?’, Laura asked, startling both men at the table.

Stiles turned to look at her slowly, raising an eyebrow.

‘How long have you wanted to ask that question?’

‘Like… 3 seconds after I met you.’, she waved a hand around.

‘Oh really?’, Stiles faked a surprised look. ‘You like the Stiles?’

Laura blinked. ‘I … Uh… Not if you call yourself that.’

He chuckled. ‘Good. I am single, but I’m also gay.’

She instantly whined and banged her head on the table.

‘All the good ones are either taken or gay.’

‘Awwwh, you think I’m one of the good ones’, Stiles snickered.

‘You fucker, you know you are one of the good ones.’, she glared at him.

‘Yay, another dollar’, Anna smiled poking Laura’s side.

‘Stop enjoying my pain!’, Laura pushed her niece away.

‘You’re not in pain’, Anna grinned. ‘You’re just sad Stiles would rather love daddy, not you.’

Everybody was silent for a few seconds, all of them staring at Anna, who just went back to her drawing. When Laura starting laughing, Stiles and Derek soon following.

(✿◠‿◠)

Soon after that, Anna started yawning. She tried to stay up and talk with Stiles, but her eyelids were drooping and she wasn’t even drawing anymore, just playing with her crayons.

‘Hey, pup’, Derek said softly, petting her hair. ‘It’s way past your bed time.’

‘But Stiles is here!’, she whined around a yawn.

‘Yes he is, but he’s also a grownup that doesn’t have a bed time.’

‘Not fair’, she pouted.

Derek snorted. ‘You have been pretty good tonight, maybe we can convince Stiles to read you a bedtime story?’, he turned towards him, a questioning look in his eyes.

Stiles didn’t miss a beat. ‘I’d love to! If your Daddy doesn’t mind, we’ll read from the comic book I got you.’

Anna sat up straighter at that, looking at him with wide eyes. ‘You got me a comic book?’

‘Yup. It’s an old one, but it’s still Iron Man.’

Her jaw dropped and she quickly turned her head towards Derek, whispering a barely audible _daddy_ and grabbing onto his arm with both of her little hands.

Derek pried her hands off his arm and helped her off the chair. ‘You want Aunt Laura to help you brush your teeth?’

Anna didn’t even bother to answer, running towards her bedroom, yelling for Laura to hurry up.

‘You were so calm as a kid’, she whined at her brother. ‘How did that come out of you?’

Derek raised an eyebrow. ‘Technically, she came out of her mother.’

Laura threw a napkin at him, but reluctantly made her way after her niece.

Stiles stood up and started gathering the dirty dishes; Derek looked at him oddly for a couple of seconds, but helped him anyway. They didn’t say anything while they cleared the table, but they shared a couple of smiles each time they heard Laura yelling at Anna to stay put or hold on.

By the time they were done with the dishes, Laura walked into the kitchen, her t-shirt wet in two different places.

‘Down the hallway, second door on the left’, she told Stiles. ‘Good luck with getting her to sleep, she’s hyped up and ecstatic.’

‘Should we send Stiles out into the battlefield so early on?’, Derek frowned, sounding quite serious.

Laura bit her lip. ‘I really don’t know if he can handle it. He might not come back. Are we ready to have his blood on our hands and his death on our conscience?’

‘Excuuuuuse me’, Stiles shrieked. ‘She’s a 6 year old adorable baby girl who likes my second favorite superhero. I was _born_ for this battle field. Chill the fuck out!’

‘The swear jar’s on the table outside of her room’, Laura smirked.

Stiles glared and left the kitchen.

 (◡‿◡✿)

When he reached Anna’s room, Stiles stopped and looked around. One wall was painted bright red, one was painted a pale mint, the one above the bed was white, but covered with various decals and stickers, posters and pictures, and the wall that had the door in it was covered with a bookshelf. It had various books in it, but also plushies, toys, and more pictures.

The bed was a single one, with white sheets, but a big, fluffy, red comforter over it, which Anna was sitting on top of. She was clutching a teddy bear that was wearing a leather jacket, and Stiles snorted when he remembered Derek wearing one.

Anna was grinning and bouncing up and down, sitting in the middle of the bed in a bright blue pajamas. Stiles chuckled and sat down next to her, leaning back against the headboard. Anna scooted over too, dragging the comforter and teddy with her. She let her head fall against Stiles’ shoulder and hugged the bear tightly, and Stiles made sure that the comforter covered her properly.

He put the comic book between them, and read for 15 minutes, making sound effects and funny voices. Anna seemed to enjoy it, but she was falling asleep every 30 seconds, so Stiles closed the comic book the first chance he got.

Anna whined.

‘Come on, sweetie’, he soothed, gently getting out of bed but making sure to lower her onto the pillows. ‘You’re already half asleep. The comic will still be here tomorrow.’

‘You won’t’, she said, burying her head further into the pillows.

Stiles didn’t know how to answer that, so he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and tucked her in. ‘Sweet dreams, baby girl.’

He switched off the lights and gently closed the door behind him, but froze when he saw Laura and Derek waiting for him in the hallway, soft smiles on their faces. But they didn’t say anything for a long time, and the awkward silence was getting to Stiles.

‘Did I do good?’, he asked, finally.

Derek snorted and Laura shook her head, grabbing Stiles’ hand and dragging him back to the living room.

‘Come on, there’s a bottle of wine with our names on it, and a bad movie with sex and explosions.’

‘Did you drive here?’, Derek asked, and Stiles tried to turn back to face him, but Laura wasn’t letting go of his hand.

‘No, I live 3 blocks away.’

‘Good’, Laura grinned and finally let go of his hand. ‘So you can drink. Boys, get me alcohol while I pick the movie’, she ordered, throwing herself on the couch.

‘Yes, mistress’, Stiles rolled his eyes, but he followed Derek to the kitchen.

(✿◠‿◠)

‘So what do you guys do?’, Stiles asked a glass of wine later. He was sitting on one of the beanbags, while Derek was sitting on one end of the couch, with Laura’s feet in his lap. There was a movie playing in the background, but they had stopped watching it 3 minutes in.

‘Derek here writes books’, Laura says, poking her brother with her feet. He puts his hands around her ankles to keep her from fidgeting, and she glares. Derek glares right back.

‘What kind of books?’, Stiles asks, highly amused.

‘Fiction’, he responds, but doesn’t take his eyes off his sister.

‘What type of fiction?’

‘Kiddy fiction’, Laura grins.

‘Whoa. I, uh…’, Stiles stammers. ‘That’s not an actual term, Laura. Do you seriously write children’s books?’

At that, Derek turns to him with a raised eyebrow. ‘They’re more like graphic novels’, he eventually says. ‘For bigger kids, over the age of 10.’

‘So not only do you write’, Stiles concludes, ‘but you’re also an artist and a full time dad.’

‘He’s also a grump’, Laura snickers.

‘And what do you do?’, Stiles asks her, taking the attention off of Derek.

‘I’m a lawyer’, she grins, finally taking her feet off Derek’s lap and putting them underneath her. ‘I get to work with your dad pretty often, actually.’

‘Oh?’, Stiles raises an eyebrow. ‘He never said.’

Laura shrugged. ‘I like to keep to myself, I guess he was respecting that. I, uh… I always remembered how nicely he treated us after the fire, and how much he helped. So, every time I went to the station, I’d make sure to bring him a donut, or a pastry, cupcake, something.’

Stiles glared, making Derek choke on a laugh.

Laura ignored them.

‘This happened for a few weeks, until one of the Deputies cornered me. He very politely requested that I didn’t bring the Sheriff unhealthy food, because, and I quote, his son will find me and he’s not going to hurt me, but he will make feel like the worst person in the world.’

‘That actually happened?’, Derek asked, unconvinced.

‘Yup.’

‘Which deputy?’, Stiles asked.

‘Parrish’, she answered, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.

‘Ooooh’, Stiles laughed. ‘God bless Parrish. Doing my duty long after I’ve left.’

‘I feel like there’s a story in there’, Derek pointed out.

Stiles smiled. ‘Parrish moved to Beacon Hills a couple of months after my accident. At that point, I was either hanging out with Scott and Allison, Lydia or Danny, or hanging out at the station. Between school and physical therapy sessions that my dad had to drive me to, I usually stayed at the precinct, doing my homework or reading, doing paperwork and organizing things if I was out of things to do.’

‘Why?’, Derek frowned.

‘Well, I was uhm… It wasn’t good. I was depressed, in pain, broken and damaged physically and emotionally and it took me longer than it should to be comfortable in a swimming pool again. And we have one at home, so… I didn’t like staying there.’

‘Anyway’, Stiles continued quickly, not letting them say anything, ‘Parrish was the new kid, transferred from a big city on his own wish, he didn’t know anybody and people didn’t understand why he’d want to move to a small town. And, well, you _know_ it’s a small town and things just have a way of working.’, he laughed.

‘The guy was a mess at first, because the precinct, let’s be honest here, has some weird inner workings. So I took pity on him and taught him everything I know. Somewhere along the way, we became friends.’

‘If you are friends’, Laura narrowed her eyes, ‘then why are you blushing?’

‘I’m really not’, Stiles laughed. ‘But everybody else thought we were gonna end up together, thought he was just waiting until I got better, or until I wasn’t underage anymore.’

‘And?’, Laura pressed on.

‘And a couple of months after the bets started, I hooked up with my first boyfriend, and when I told him, he kind of… screamed that people will finally believe he’s straight. In the middle of the police station. It was hilarious.’

‘Who’s Danny?’, Derek asked before Laura got to say anything. Stiles blinked.

‘You mentioned him a minute ago’, he explained. ‘I know Scott and Allison and Lydia, and you always talk about them. You've never mentioned Danny before.’

After a few nods, Stiles smiled.

‘Danny was my first boyfriend in highschool.’

‘Didn’t end well?’, Laura asked, oddly soft, probably reading something in his eyes.

‘Not really.’, Stiles laughed. ‘We hooked up just as I finished my physical therapy. We were together for about a year, and it was nice, we had fun. He never treated me differently, because of my injury, which was something pretty big at the time. Uhm… He cheated on me. Said that I was too mature.’

‘I’m sorry’, Laura said. ‘That’s pretty hardcore for a first relationship.’

‘How the hell is being mature a bad thing?’, Derek frowned.

Stiles shrugged. ‘I mean… He was kind of right. Because of my mom’s death, and the pressure of swimming, and then my accident… I was way too mature for a highschooler. And, well, I mean… In the end, it was a good thing, you know? Danny kind of opened my eyes. It wasn’t love between us, not really, it was just fun and convenient. But I was too clingy and after that, I learned to… you know, loosen up and have some fun. Like a normal teenager.’

‘Still’, Laura shrugged. ‘Way too … _real_ … for a first ever relationship.’

‘Yeah, well’, Stiles laughed. ‘I don’t regret it. I hardly ever regret anything, to be honest, but that episode helped me a lot in the long run. And I’m happy it was with Danny. He’s a great guy, always was, and we may not be friends, but we’re still civil acquaintances. He got married a couple of months back, to the guy he cheated on me with, so, really, it was all for the best.’

‘You really are mature’, Derek says in a serious tone.

Stiles shrugs. ‘I don’t know about that, man. I still collect comics, I have more superhero t-shirts than days of the week, I forget to pay my rent more often than not, and let me tell you about how I once spent 20 hours playing Call of Duty with Scott. Last week. Or maybe about how for Lydia’s birthday last month, I baked her a Cinderella cake, complete with a picture of her favorite scene, done in frosting.’

‘Don’t let Anna hear you say that’, Derek said, after a few beats of silence.

‘How the fuck are you single?’, Laura hissed, a very confused look in her eyes.

Stiles shrugged and laughed softly. ‘I’m damaged.’

Her whole face instantly changed, and Stiles saw the pity in her eyes, as well as Derek’s.

‘No, see’, he pointed a finger. ‘That’s why I’m single. Because of the pity you’re looking at me with right now. I can’t stand that. I hate it when people pity me because of the things I’ve been through, when in fact they should respect me for the way I’ve overcome them. And, well, I haven’t really found a guy who’s boyfriend material and able to do that.’

‘Sorry’, Derek said, eventually. ‘We don’t’… We get it. We don’t pity you, because we hate it too.’

‘Good’, Stiles nodded. ‘Right back at you’, he smiled. ‘I mean, don’t get me wrong, you are pity worthy, but… meh.’

‘Oh, you don’t know the half of it’, Laura laughed. ‘After the fire, I couldn’t really cope with everything, so I became addicted to painkillers and antidepressants and things.’ She talked in a steady voice, and looked him straight in the eyes. So Stiles tried not to flinch at her words, and not show any emotion on his face.

‘Just cause I spilled the beans, doesn’t mean you have to tell me, Laura. You don’t have to tell me anything.’

She ignored him.

‘Derek was worse than me, emotionally, but he dealt with it by shutting in on himself and not with pills. Anyway, he got his head out of his ass first, had me committed to a detox facility for a couple of months. After I got out, we worked together at fixing each other. He kept me clean, and I helped him overcome the guilt. All the while, we were both learning how to function without our familiy.’

She shrugged. ‘It was good for a couple of years. I moved back to Beacon Hills when I finished college and he stayed here. He met a girl, and we both liked her a lot. She stayed for justenough time to give birth to Anna and hand Derek the already signed papers, giving him full custody of her and letting go of all her rights over the baby.’

‘That must have been hard’, Stiles said eventually, with a cautious look towards Derek.

He shook his head. ‘It was. But it wasn’t much harder than what I’ve been through before. At least I had Anna. That made it better.’, he smiled softly.

Laura playfully shoved at his shoulder. ‘You had me too, dumbass. I let you move in with me for 6 months and the amount of diapers I changed shouldn’t have been that high, considering she’s not my kid.’

‘Shut up’, Derek growled. ‘You love her as if she was yours.’

Laura didn’t say anything, but she smiled and let her head rest on Derek’s shoulder, snuggling into his body. He rolled his eyes, but put a hand around her shoulders.

‘There’s something about you Hales’, Stiles thought out loud, making the siblings look at him.

‘Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty open type of personality.’, he shrugged. ‘But I don’t usually share my life story the first time I spend more than 10 minutes with people.’

‘Neither do we’, Laura pointed out. ‘So this was weird for us too, if that makes you feel any better.’

‘It’s Anna’, Derek smiled at Stiles. ‘You fell in love with her, and she fell in love with you, and we’re just caught in the whirlwind.’

Stiles nodded. ‘And that’s why you’re the writer.’

The siblings laughed and Stiles poured them more wine.


	5. Beacon Hills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stiles gets to know more about Laura and Derek. When Christmas rolls around, they're all going to be in Beacon Hills.

For the next couple of months, every time Laura came to San Francisco to visit Derek, Stiles was invited to dinner. This happened every other week, and it became somewhat of a ritual. Stiles would bake something and bring wine, he’d read to Anna before tucking her in. Then, he’d spend a couple of hours with Laura and Derek, talking about anything, getting to know each other.

Stiles learned that Laura was a cocky woman, who spoke very freely and was always direct. But she was also a smart woman, very intuitive and she was a good judge of character, even if it was a weird process on her part. She loved her job, and she was incredibly fair, which was a very good thing, considering she was a lawyer. But this particular character trait made its way into her personal life as well, making it a bit harder for people to deal with her, from time to time. Stiles had absolutely no problem with it, much to Laura’s surprise, but he explained to her that the Sheriff's the same, and he grew up with him.

Laura is also a very loving woman, even if it clashes with the rest of her personality. She loves her brother and niece, impossibly so, and Stiles gets it, he understands what it’s like to have just a small family left. Laura banters with Derek to show her affection, teases him and shoves at him, bosses him around and acts like a spoiled little sister, rather than the big sister that she is. Laura absolutely adores Anna, and she spoils her every time she gets the opportunity, taking her shopping and buying her everything she wants, giving her icecream before dinner. Anna always has her full attention, no matter what she’s talking about.

She’d do anything for her family, and she’s very protective of them. Stiles is a bit scared of Laura, because she can be quite terrifying if she chooses. But he also respects her a whole lot, because she is one of the strongest women he’s ever met.

‘We mustn’t let Laura and Lydia meet’, he whispers to Derek one evening, while she’s helping Anna get dressed.

‘Why?’, Derek frowns.

‘Because they’ll rule the world, and you and I will get caught in the crossfire.’

Derek opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it soon after, taking a deep breath. ‘Okay’, is what he says, nodding seriously. Stiles loves it when they agree on something.

Because Stiles has gotten to know a lot about Derek, and they don’t always agree on things. While they’re on the same page on the big, important stuff, when it comes to details, he and Derek end up fighting and bickering like there’s no tomorrow.

Stiles likes it, he finds it entertaining. But he likes Derek even more.

Derek is a level headed man, even though you’d expect the opposite, because of his profession. But he always takes everything into account before making a decision, Laura keeps teasing him for not being at all spontaneous. But Derek seems to be a calm individual, never getting mad and enjoying doing relaxing activities, like reading or yoga. He is quite distant, keeping to himself and always maintaining a professional-like relationship with the strangers around him.

But he is very different with his family. Of course he loves Laura and Anna with everything he has, and he’d do anything for them. Like his sister, he’s highly protective of what he cares about. He’s even scarier than Laura, because of his killer muscles and biker looks. But those don’t affect Stiles anymore, not when he sees the way he looks at his daughter every time she smiles at him, or how he melts when she kisses him or tells him she loves him.

He works hard to raise her, to educate her and keep her polite. To answer her every question, to keep her happy and healthy. Stiles is sure Derek sacrificed a lot of things for Anna, but he isn’t sure if Derek himself noticed. He figured that it wasn’t his business, anyway, so he keeps his mouth shut about it.

Derek is really invested in his writing and drawing. When Stiles stumbled upon one of his graphic novels in a book store, he bought it instantly. He ended up staying awake for half the night reading it, and even though the target demographic was 10 to 14 year old kids, Stiles truly enjoyed it. It was a nice story, with elements of sci-fi and fantasy, with likeable characters that were strong and taught the reader important life lessons throughout their story. It was educational, as much as it was fun.

And Stiles liked his style, it wasn’t something he was used to seeing in comic books. Derek used strong lines, but soft watercolors, detailed close-ups of the characters, but blurred backgrounds.

All in all, Stiles and Derek got along very well. It wasn’t a competition, like it was with Stiles and Laura. It was just friendly banter, funny teasing and a pretty obvious connection. It was clear that Derek saw a friend in Stiles. Meanwhile, Stiles’ crush on Derek wasn’t getting any better. But he didn’t act on it, he never did.  

(◡‿◡✿)

Before he knew it, Stiles’ calendar was telling him that there was less than a month till Christmas, and his father was asking him if he was driving back to Beacon Hills or buying a plane ticket.

Stiles panicked. Well, no, firstly he called Lydia and asked her what schedule the pool had for the holidays. Of course, she laughed for about 2 minutes before telling him that he will be leaving for Beacon Hills on the 20th, and that he will return on the 6th of January. Then, he told his father that he’ll be driving, bringing Allison and Scott with him, and made a few plans for the time he’ll be staying at home.

Then, he panicked, because there was less than a month till Christmas and he had no gifts or gift ideas for anybody.  That led to a full day and night of planning, three days of erratic searching in online stores, and four days of stressful adventures in the various malls and boutiques of San Francisco.

But by the time he needed to start packing, Stiles had all the presents he needed. And a few more, even if he didn’t know if he’ll end up giving them to Laura and Derek. He’ll probably give them to Anna, eventually.

(✿◠‿◠)

Stiles was skyping with his dad, the day before leaving for Beacon Hills, basically giving the Sheriff the grocery list. They’d always have a big barbeque party on Christmas day, and Stiles was, more or less, in charge of everything that happened in the kitchen, except for the actual cooking of the barbeque, which was always done by the Sheriff and Scott. They wouldn’t have a whole lot of people over, but it was the one moment in the year when the Stilinski household held so many people, mostly close friends of Stiles and his fathers, and people from the station or with whom the Sheriff worked closely.

Stiles’ phone rang just as he finished rattling the grocery list, and his father asked if he needed to hang up. Stiles looked at his phone and saw that it was Derek calling, so he told the Sheriff it shouldn’t take long, and answered the phone with a loud and obnoxious ‘Hiiiii, Derek.’

Only it wasn’t Derek that was on the other line.

‘Stiles!’, an excited Anna shrieked. ‘You picked up!’

Stiles blinked, but he couldn’t stop the smile already forming on his face.

‘Does your daddy know you’re calling me, young lady? He wouldn’t like you stealing his phone, Anna.’

‘He knows’, she said and Stiles heard the pout. ‘He said that if I want to ask you something, I should call you and not make him do it.’

Stiles laughed. ‘He’s right. What do you want to ask me?’

‘Are you going to Bacon Hills for Christmas?’

Stiles blinked. ‘Uh… It’s _Beacon_ Hills, not Bacon Hills’, he ignored his father’s snort, ‘And yes, yes I am, I’m actually leaving tomorrow.’

‘Yaaaaaaay’, Anna screamed in delight, forcing Stiles to take the phone away from his ear.

‘I haven’t seen you in soooooo long’, she whined, and she was right, they didn’t have their usual dinner last week, Stiles just assumed Laura didn’t visit that weekend. ‘Do you think we can see each other there?’

Stiles blinked again. ‘You’re… spending Christmas with Laura?’

‘Yes!’, Anna said and Stiles knew she was grinning. ‘We’re already here and we’re staying till after New Year's!’

‘You’re already there?’, Stiles asked, incredulous.

‘Yes! Laura took me to the mall yesterday and we saw a movie and then we went to a coffee shop and we saw the Sheriff! He gave me a lollipop.’

Stiles glared at his screen, where his father was grinning, unabashed.

‘A lollipop, huh?’, Stiles raised an eyebrow. ‘I wonder why he had one on him.’

‘Laura asked the same thing’, Anna giggled. ‘He told her it’s cause there are a lot of cute princesses and superheroes in Bacon Hills.’

Stiles ignored that she mispronounced the name again, he was too busy smiling fondly and shaking his head at his father’s antics.

‘Tell you what’, Stiles said, eventually. ‘If it’s okay with your dad, I’ll take you to the park someday. And buy you pancakes afterwards. How does that sound?’

‘Park and pancakes! Yes!’, Anna shrieked, excited.

‘Only if your dad’s okay with it.’, Stiles insisted.

‘Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Stiles says he’ll take me to the park and for pancakes. He can, can he? You’ll let me go?’

‘Say goodbye to Stiles’, he heard Derek say in the background. ‘And hand over the phone.’

‘I think that’s a yes’, Anna whispered into the phone. Then, her tone returned to normal. ‘Bye, Stiles! See you soon!’

‘Bye, sweetie!’

‘Hello, Stiles’, Derek’s gruff voice came over the phone a few seconds later.

‘Hey, man. How long have you been there? I had no idea. My traitor of a father didn’t tell me anything.’, he glared at the screen once again, only to see that his father was reading the paper.

‘Since last week. I never liked the commotion of Christmas in the city, it’s a lot quieter here.’

‘Does Anna love Beacon Hills or what?’, Stiles grinned.

Derek sighed. ‘Laura has a dog. We had to take it to the vet yesterday, and-‘

‘Let me guess’, Stiles interrupted. ‘Deaton let her play with puppies or kittens and now she wants one.’

‘Yes’, Derek says after a beat. ‘A puppy. How did you know that?’

‘Scott worked at the clinic all the way through high school. I hung out there a lot, I know Deaton’s MO.’, he laughed.

‘Right’, Derek smiled back. ‘I... sorry, I keep forgetting you grew up here too.’

Stiles hummed. ‘Does that mean you’ll trust me to take Anna on a walk through the preserve sometime in the next few weeks?’

‘No’, Derek answered. ‘Well, yes, I do, but I’ll come with you.’

‘Good, that’s good. I’ll talk to you later, then?’, Stiles smiled.

‘Sure, Stiles. Safe flight.’

‘I’m driving, actually.’

‘Safe drive, then.’

‘Bye, Derek.’

When he hung up, his father was watching him with a raised eyebrow.

‘You know’, he narrowed his eyes at his son, ‘Laura keeps telling me that you’re friends, but why do I get the feeling it’s more than that?’

‘You talk to Laura about me?’, Stiles chose to ignore the question.

The Sheriff sighed. ‘I gotta go, Melissa’s going to be here soon, to help me with the shopping.’

‘Love you, dad.’, Stiles grinned, happy that he avoided the topic. ‘Melissa too. See you soon.’

‘Drive carefully, kid.’

(◡‿◡✿)

The first thing the Sheriff told Stiles after he arrived in Beacon Hills and they hugged was ‘I already invited Laura to the barbeque, but I don’t think they want to come because of Allison and Chris. You should talk to them.’

Stiles blinked, confused. ‘What… What about Allison and Chris? What do they have to do with anything?’

His father raised both his eyebrows. ‘You don’t know? That Kate, Chris’ sister, was the one who burned down the Hale house?’

‘Allison’s aunt was Derek’s girlfriend who –ohmygod.’

‘Yeah’, his dad sighed. ‘Chris tells me that they’ve … She’s locked up for life, and he’s in good relations with Laura. Civil. But…’

‘Yeah’, Stiles sighed. ‘Good god, yeah. I’ll… I’ll talk to them. But you think I could like… come in first? Maybe unpack?’

The Sheriff laughed and went to Stiles’ trunk, getting out part of his luggage.

(✿◠‿◠)

The next morning, Stiles still had a bit of shopping to do, but he stopped by the Argent house before he went. It was Scott who opened the door, he was still wearing his pajamas and his hair was a mess.

‘What’s happening?’, he asked, confused.

Stiles grinned. ‘Nothing, buddy. I just came to talk to Chris about something. Is he in?’

Scott frowned some more, but stepped out of the way, letting Stiles come in. ‘He’s in the office. Is everything all right?’

‘Yeah.’, Stiles smiled reassuringly. ‘I just… Uh. You know how I can’t keep my nose out of everyone else’s business?’

‘You’re here to ask about Kate’, Scott said in a straight tone.

‘Not really?’, Stiles shrugged. ‘I couldn’t care less about her, to be honest. And dad just told me about her yesterday, I didn’t know. I mean, I know enough from Allison, and I don’t t really care? But Laura and Derek are reluctant to come to the barbeque, and I wanna convince them, but I just thought I should talk to Chris first.’

‘Follow me into the kitchen, I was just about to make some coffee’, Chris’ voice came from behind Stiles, startling him. ‘Scott, you should start waking Allison up.’

‘Sure thing.’, he said and headed towards the stairs, leaving Stiles to follow Argent into the kitchen. He sat down on a barstool at the center island and watched the older man putting a kettle on the stove.

‘I didn’t know you were acquainted with Laura and Derek.’, is what Argent says, turning towards Stiles.

‘We met in San Francisco’, he explains. ‘Anna’s in one of my swimming classes.’

‘Anna?’, Chris frowns.

‘Derek’s daughter.’

‘Oh’, he smiles. ‘Laura mentions her sometimes, but I don’t think she's ever told me her name.’

‘So you do talk to her, to Laura?’, Stiles questioned.

‘Yes I do, Stiles’, he answered softly. ‘They… I had nothing to do with the fire. Kate is insane and my only mistake was not seeing it sooner. Laura understands that, we’ve never… I can’t say we’re friends, but we’re acquaintances. I've worked with her a few times, we say hello to each other at the grocery store, she helped me when I was in need of a lawyer. I send her flowers for her birthday and she sends me wine.’, he smiled.

‘Since she came back to town, she's never once blamed me for Kate’s actions. She’s rotting away in a padded cell, and Laura doesn’t seem to have any animosity towards me. Or Allison. I think it’s Derek, who’s reluctant. Because he doesn’t really know me, or trust me. And if he’s anything like his sister, I assume he’s overprotective.’

‘That he is.’, Stiles nodded.

‘Look, if… I wouldn’t mind not coming to the barbeque this year.’

‘No’, Stiles stood up quickly. ‘Absolutely not, that’s not an option. I’ll talk to the Hales, I’ll convince them. As you said, Derek’s probably just being a stubborn ass.’

Argent raised an eyebrow and Stiles laughed, only slightly embarrassed.

‘Plus, I have a secret weapon’, he said, walking towards the front door.

‘What’s that?’, Argent asked, amused.

‘Anna. She absolutely loves me and Derek can’t really say no to her, soooo…’, he grinned.

‘See you soon, Stiles.’, he rolled his eyes.

‘Bye, Chris. Give the lovebirds a kiss for me.’

(◡‿◡✿)

Stiles called Derek later that evening, but it was Laura who picked up.

‘I should really get your number’, is what she started with.

‘Sure. How are you, Laura?’

‘Good, good. I’m dyeing my hair, actually.’

‘Okaaaaay.', Stiles rolled his eyes. 'Mind if I talk to you for a second?’

‘This is about your barbeque, isn’t it?’, she asked after a beat.

‘I talked to Chris Argent. After dad told me about Kate, I really didn’t know it was her.’

‘And let me guess, Chris said that there aren’t any problems between us and that he’ll willingly skip the barbeque if it mean for us to be there.’

Stiles blinked. ‘You know him pretty well.’

‘Yeah, I do.’, Laura sighed.

‘It’s not about him.’, Stiles heard Derek’s voice, and he realized he was on speaker.

‘May I ask what it’s about, then?’, he tried.

Derek was silent for a couple of seconds, but when he answered, he didn’t seem hesitant at all.

‘We’re not used to big crowds. Anna and I. And in this town, everybody knows who we are. I can handle the uncomfortable staring and the hushed whispers, but Anna is not used to it. She’s smart, you know she is, and she’ll pick up on it.’

Stiles sighed.

‘I get it. And I’m not going to pressure you, but I have to say that these people, they’re family. Scott and Allison, Lydia and her fiancé, they’re my home away from home. And the guys from the station, I grew up with most of them, and the newer ones will be there for a reason, you know? I’m sure Laura already knows most of them. And, well, logically speaking, yes, they’ll all know who you are. But because that’s their job. As far as social interaction goes, they are trained professional, who know how to act in order to not make you feel uncomfortable. And they’re good people, if I may say. Dad hates gossip and he’s trained them well.’

‘We’ll think about it, Stiles’, Laura said.

‘That’s all I ask. If you decide not to come, well, I still have a date with Anna, no way you’re getting out of that one.’

Laura chuckled. ‘Sure thing, Stiles. Talk to you later.’

‘Buhbye’, he smiled.

‘Goodnight, Stiles’, Derek said in a soft voice.

Stiles hung up the phone and sighed. He looked up, and his father was watching him.

‘You care about them. A lot.’, he said, and it wasn’t really a question.

‘Is that bad?’

‘Of course not. Look, maybe we can have them over for dinner another day. Just them.’, his father smiled. ‘I’d sure like to see more of Anna.’

Stiles smiled back.


	6. Quite a good place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas barbecue, Stilinski edition.

In the end, the Hales came to the barbecue. Laura texted him on Christmas Eve, letting him know, and Stiles literally fist pumped the air, much to his father’s amusement.

Stiles spent the entire morning of the barbecue, as well as half the night before, in the kitchen. He made baked potatoes, French fries, three different types of salad, each with its own dressing, a steamed mix of vegetables, and about 60 cupcakes. His father had already bought all the soda and alcohol needed, and he and Scott will be the ones grilling the meat.

The Sheriff’s house was a fairly big one, but there was no way all the guests would fit into it. Thankfully, the yard has always been way too big, so when they installed the swimming pool, they made sure to cover it by building around it, big glass walls and ceiling that created a sort of lounge area around the pool. The place had seen a lot of parties while Stiles was in high school, because it held up to 30 people, it could be warmed up during the winter months, there was a music system installed and it was a generally awesome space, as most people said.

It was Christmas, so the pool was drained. Stiles made sure to put some beanbags and chairs in it, because he knew his friends, and some toys for the kids. He also put up a few Christmas decorations around the place, but nothing too over the top. Some fairy lights, mistletoe here and there, some strategically placed tinsel.

Scott and his mother, along with Allison and her father were the first to arrive around noon, as always. They helped Stiles get everything from the kitchen to the pool, and they quickly exchanged gifts and hugs.

Slowly, more people started showing up, and Stiles was quickly getting into the spirit of things, smiling every minute, getting hugged every once in a while. Allison was at the music station, making playlists to leave running in the background, while the Sheriff and Scott were outside, grilling the meat. Melissa kept making her way between them and the food tables.

A bit after one, Derek texted Stiles telling him they arrived, so he rushed outside, just in time to see Laura opening the trunk of a dark gray SUV, and a big husky making his way across the lawn, heading straight for Scott. He was oblivious, so he yelped when the dog started yipping at his butt.

Stiles was too busy laughing to hear Laura’s embarrassed apologies.

‘It’s fine, Laura’, Scott said, bending down and scratching the dog behind its ears. ‘Frosty looooooves me.’

‘You named your husky Frosty?’, the Sheriff raised an eyebrow.

Laura honest to god blushed, much to the men's amusement, and ducked her head. ‘Anna picked the name.’

Right on cue, Stiles heard her screaming for him. He looked towards the car again, and saw Derek getting closer, carrying a very excited Anna in his arms. After a few more steps, Derek just gave up and put Anna down. She quickly ran towards Stiles, and he bent down so he could hug her properly.

Once she was safely in his arms, hands around his neck and feet around his waist, Stiles took a moment to look at the siblings. Laura was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, a yellow baby-doll top and a denim jacket over it. She was smiling broadly at the Sheriff, with Frosty sitting between her legs, wiggling his tail. Derek was wearing a simple pair of black jeans, a light grey Henley and his usual leather jacket. They both looked good and calm, like the stress of their lives had been washed off over Christmas.

Anna was the absolute best, though. She was wearing a short black skirt, with black tights and yellow sneakers. She had on a Captain America t-shirt and a blue hoodie, and her hair was tied in a simple ponytail, her curls bouncing all around.

‘Stiles, are you to blame for Anna’s shirt?’, he heard Lydia’s amused voice come from behind him.

‘No, Daddy bought it for me!’, Anna grinned, turning around in Stiles’ arms, to face her. ‘I told him where to buy it!’

Lydia blinked.

‘Your hair is sooo pretty!’, Anna said in a slightly awed voice, but she made no move towards Lydia, feeling content enough in Stiles’ arms.

‘Thank you, sweetie’, Lydia winked. She then made her way towards Laura and introduced herself, while Derek came to stand by Stiles.

‘I thought you said we shouldn’t let them meet’, he whispered to him, around a smile.

‘Oh, we’ll regret it eventually.’, Stiles sighed. ‘But in the spirit of Christmas and all.’

‘Is that a pool?’, Anna shrieked, interrupting their conversation.

‘Yes, but it’s empty.’, Derek pointed out.

‘Daddy, I wanna go in!’, she looked at him with wide eyes, holding on tightly to Stiles’ shoulder. He chuckled.

‘Of course you do’, Stiles had already started walking towards the door. ‘That’s where all the toys are.’

(✿◠‿◠)

A couple of hours later, after everybody had eaten, Stiles was at the bottom of the swimming pool, sitting on a bean bag, watching Anna, who was very invested in working on a 500 piece puzzle. He helped her at the beginning, but he got bored quickly. Anna didn’t mind, as long as she had company.

At one point, Stiles felt someone leaning on his back.

‘Good god, you’re heavy’, he wheezed. As he managed to turn around, he saw Kyle Parrish grinning at him like a madman. Stiles groaned and struggled some more, managing to drop him on the beanbag next to him.

‘Asshole!’, he wheezed.

‘Stiles! Don’t swear, I don’t have my swear jar with me!’, Anna scolded him.

Parrish’s eyes grew a bit wide and he slowly turned away from her and looked towards Stiles with a raised eyebrow.

‘And who’s this?’

‘Anna, this is Deputy Parrish. Parrish, this is Anna Hale.’

‘Hello, Mister Deputy!’, she said, waving a hand at him, even though she was blushing.

‘Call me Kyle.’, he smiled back. ‘Wait’, he turned back to Stiles. ‘Hale?’

Stiles winked at him, just as Derek came down in the swimming pool, carrying two beers and an orange juice.

‘Mind if I join you?’, he asked Stiles, with a spare glance pointed towards Parrish.

‘Not at all’, Stiles grinned, just as Derek sat next to his daughter, giving her the juice and handing Stiles one of the beers. ‘Derek, this is Deputy Kyle Parrish. Parrish, this is Derek Hale.’

They shook hands and realization finally dawned on Kyle’s face.

‘You’re Laura’s brother’, he said.

Derek nodded politely. ‘We’re visiting her, for a change.’

‘Enjoy your stay’, Parrish smiled.

‘Daddy!’, Anna whined. ‘Don’t just sit there, help me.’

‘Yes, Anna’, he rolled his eyes, but rearranged himself so that he could have better access to the puzzle.

‘I haven’t seen you in a while’, Parrish said to Stiles, bumping their shoulders. ‘What have you been up to?’

‘Nothing much.’, he shrugged. ‘Same old, same old. Working at the pool, teaching at the community center. Really, nothing interesting.’

Parrish raised an eyebrow and pointedly looked towards Derek and Anna, for half a second, but he didn’t say anything about it.

‘Still single?’, is what he asked.

‘Yup’, Stiles shrugged, popping the last letter in the obnoxious way he knew Kyle hates.

Parrish sighed. ‘You should work on that. And fast. Or the ladies at the station will try to set us up again.’

Derek snorted. ‘Sorry’, he apologized, when Parrish glared at him.

‘Or, ya know’, Stiles winked, ‘maybe you could find yourself a nice lady.’

‘Easier said than done, my friend’, he sighed.

But then, his eyes moved to something behind Stiles and he smiled. When Stiles turned around, he saw Laura coming down the pool, carrying a plate filled with cupcakes and cookies.

‘Hello boys’, she said, handing Derek the plate. He took it wordlessly, not even taking his eyes off the puzzle.

Laura squeezed her way between Stiles and Kyle, earning groans from both of them, but Stiles noticed how she ended up being pressed more into Parrish, rather than him. When she settled, she took the plate back from Derek, placing it in her lap. She and Parrish both took a cupcake and started eating it, smiling at each other.

Stiles looked to Derek, who caught the interaction too. Derek raised an eyebrow, and Stiles just shook his head, making a mental note to ask his father about it later.

‘Are those Stiles-cupcakes?’, Anna asked, looking at the plate with wide eyes.

‘I don’t really know’, Laura frowned.

‘They are’, Stiles nodded. ‘You’ll like the ones with the yellow frosting.’, he winked at Anna, who quickly made her way over the puzzle to grab one.

Then, she settled happily next to her father, snuggling close to him, as Derek put a hand around her shoulder.

‘Are you a police man?’, she asked Parrish, but not before swallowing the food she was chewing.

‘Yes’, the man smiled.

‘So you work with Stiles’ dad?’

‘Yeah. I even work with Laura every now and then.’

‘Good’, she nodded. ‘She needs boys with guns to take care of her.’

The men stifled a laugh, while Laura pouted.

‘I do not. I can take care of myself pretty well, thank you very much.’

Anna frowned. ‘Then, you need boys to help you carry the groceries into the house.’

‘Well I won’t deny that.’, Laura grinned.

‘You’re a smart young lady.’, Parrish smiled at Anna, handing her another cupcake.

‘Daddy says so. Stiles too.’, she grinned.

‘You’re supposed to say ‘thank you’, Anna.’, Derek pointed out.

‘Oh’, her eyes grew wide. ‘Thank you, Mister Kyle.’

‘Just Kyle, please’, he pulled a face. ‘I’m not that old.’

‘You’re all old.’, she frowned.

Derek slapped his forehead. ‘That was rude, Anna. We’re all _older_ than you, that doesn’t mean we’re old.’

She frowned some more. ‘How much olders make someone old?’

‘Depends on who you ask’, Stiles smiled. ‘My dad’s kinda old, but he always throws something at my head when I call him an old man. And Mrs. Downey, who owns the diner, will give you cold coffee if you ever mention her age. And she’s like, 70.’

‘That’s a lot!’, Anna said. ‘How much older than me is that?’, she asked Derek, turning her head towards him.

’64 years. That’s… twice Laura’s age.’

‘Derek!’, she yelped. ‘You don’t say a woman’s age!’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, did you want me to say you were 26? Like you tell your yoga instructor?’

Laura huffed. ‘Yeah, well, he believes it. It’s not my fault I look young.’

‘You’re pretty’, Anna grins, and it looks hilarious because she has frosting over half her face. ‘But I’m gonna be prettier than you when I grow up.’

‘Is that so?’, Laura raises an eyebrow.

‘That’s what Stiles said.’

Laura turned towards him and he had the decency to look sheepish.

‘Sorry?’, he smiled.

‘Yeah, well, Stiles is not a good judge of that, considering he likes boys.’

By this point, Parrish was biting his lip not to laugh, Derek had a hand over his face and Stiles was taking deep breaths.

‘So when Stiles says you’re pretty, he’s lying?’, Anna frowns.

‘No.’

‘I don’t get it.’, Anna pouts.

‘That happens a lot, when Laura is involved.’, Derek chuckled. ‘Just forget it.’

‘Hey, sweetie’, Stiles told Anna. ‘Do you want me to help get you cleaned up? You got frosting in your hair.’

‘Oops?’, she grinned.

‘Come on’, he got up and extended a hand for Anna to take. Derek made a move to get up too, but Stiles dismissed him.

‘I got it.’, he smiled down at Derek. ‘I know where the green apple soap is.’

He walked with Anna towards the house, ignoring all the weird ways people were looking at him. He ran into Allison and Chris when he was entering the house, and he introduced Anna to them.

‘You have hair like mine!’, Anna grinned up at Allison.

‘Yours looks better’, she winked. They instantly bonded, it seemed, talking about hair and braids and dresses and bows, and Stiles was having a hard time wiping the smile off his face.

When they left and headed towards the bathroom, Chris threw Stiles a knowing smile, to which he reacted by picking Anna up and carrying her up the stairs.

He washed her face and hands, but by the time he was done, Anna was yawning furiously.

‘Are you tired, little cupcake?’, Stiles asked while he was wiping her face with the softest towel he could find.

‘I don’t wanna sleep.’, she pouted. ‘Wanna stay with you.’

Stiles smiled and picked her up. ‘How about we make a deal? I’ll let you sleep a bit in my room, but I’ll read to you first.’

She considered this. ‘What do you have to read?’

‘Alice in Wonderland? Sound good?’

Anna nodded, and put her head on his shoulder, while he crossed the hall to his bedroom. He put her on the bed, taking off her shoes, letting her settle in under the comforter while he shut the blinds.

Sitting down on one side of the bed, book in hand, Stiles made sure Anna was comfortable enough before he started reading. She pushed the pillow as close to Stiles as she could, so her head was touching the outside of his thigh. Close to her chest, she was hugging a big teddy bear, as big as her, that Stiles got as a gag gift from Lydia, at some point. But he knew it was very fluffy, and Anna seemed to be enjoying it.

Ten minutes in, Derek came in. ‘Oh, don’t mind me’, he said, smile playing on his lips. Stiles continued reading as Derek puttered around the room, looking curiously at all the posters and books and little pieces of personality Stiles had lying around. His father never did change anything in his room, he hardly ever went in it, since Stiles moved out. He appreciated it, even though he told his dad repeatedly he could do what he wanted to it. The Sheriff never did. Thus, this room still belonged to a teenage Stiles, barely out of highschool. Derek seemed to enjoy it, because he smiled every now and then, running his fingers over book covers, the chess board, the plastic skull, the telescope.

After a few minutes, Derek came to the side of the bed Stiles wasn’t sitting on, and kneeled, bending his body onto the bed. He rubbed his head on Anna’s stomach, making her giggle, even though she quickly put her hands in her father’s hair, ruffling it and holding onto it.

Derek stood there, Anna gently petting his hair, and Stiles kept reading. That’s how the Sheriff found them, ten minutes later, Anna fast asleep with her hands still in her father’s hair, Derek’s eyes closed and head resting on his daughter’s stomach.

Stiles smiled up at his dad, shaking his head at his raised eyebrow. He closed the book and gently put it on the nightstand. Derek opened his eyes when Stiles stopped reading, blinked a couple of times, then nodded and stood up. He made sure Anna was tucked in and followed Stiles out of the room, gently closing the door behind them.

‘I never saw a more adorable kid than your daughter, Derek’, the sheriff said, a soft smile on his face. ‘She’s smart as hell and very well raised.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

‘Your parents would have been really proud of you.’

Derek seemed absolutely shocked, and slightly devastated. But when Stiles put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently, he managed to nod and smile at the Sheriff.

‘Thank you. That… Means a lot. Laura keeps telling me, but… she might be a bit biased.’, he chuckled.

‘She’s been looking for you. That’s why I came up here in the first place.’

‘Hey, dad’, Stiles started, ‘speaking of Laura.’ He nudged Derek shoulder playfully, while wiggling his eyebrows at his father, who had stopped at the head of the stairs. ‘Laura and Parrish’, Stiles grinned. ‘Yay or nay?’

The Sheriff blinked. Then, he frowned.

‘I thought Lydia convinced you years ago to stop playing matchmaker.’

Stiles glared. ‘I’m not gonna… I was just asking.’

The Sheriff spared a glance at Derek, who was watching him curiously.

‘Maybe’, he sighed. ‘They get along really well, but it’s not any of your business! Stay out of it!’, he pointed an accusing finger at Stiles, then at Derek, who raised his hands in silent surrender.

‘I am not going to get involved in my sister’s love life. That way lies madness.’, he shuddered, making the Sheriff smile again.

‘Good’, he said. ‘But, for your information, he is a really good guy, loyal and caring, and if he ever does get his head out of his ass and asks your sister out, he’s a good man who’d treat her right.’

With that, he turned around, leaving a bewildered Derek behind, alongside an amused Stiles.

‘Did… Did your father just _approve_ of Parrish?’, Derek asked, incredulously.

‘Yup.’, Stiles grinned. ‘He did that, you see, cause he figured out you’re a protective brother, but you don’t really know Parrish, so he put in his two cents.’

Derek frowned. ‘What are your two cents?’

Stiles raised an eyebrow. ‘Kyle is awesome. Really, he’s a great friend, an amazing cop and a good man. He’d treat Laura like she’s … an endangered species that has to be protected at all costs. And I do think you’d like him too, to be honest.’

Derek nodded. ‘Okay.’

He started walking down the stairs and Stiles followed.

‘But I thought we’re not getting involved.’, he sang in a fake whisper.

‘Oh, we’re not.’, Derek said. ‘But I know my sister, and she needs a push. I’ll take care of it.’, he grinned.

‘You sure?’

‘Positive. I’ll just start asking her about him, certain things she always wants to know about her boyfriends. It’ll work.’

‘Okay, man. It’s your funeral’, Stiles chuckled. ‘Let me know if I can help.’

He stopped Derek with a hand on his shoulder just as he was about to open the front door.

‘Hey. Uh. I see Anna’s having fun, but how are you holding up?’

Derek frowned and seemed to think about it, but then he shook his head and smiled. ‘I talked to Chris. He seems like a good man.’

‘He is’, Stiles nodded. ‘He hasn’t always been, but…’

‘What do you mean?’, Derek frowned.

‘I don’t know a lot’, Stiles winced, ‘but after Kate went to jail, their father kinda took her side? So he and Chris had a major fight, which is still still going on. He moved here, with Allison and her mother and, when I met him, he was a pretty cold man. Detached, you know? But his wife died in a car crash, and when he realized he’s the only one Allison has left…’, Stiles shrugged. ‘He _is_ a good man, he always has been. But now, he also lets it show.’

Derek nodded and sighed deeply. ‘I’m okay, Stiles. I’m having fun too’, he smiled a bit. ‘You were right.’

Stiles grinned and pulled Derek into a quick half-hug, much to the older man’s surprise. Then, he grinned and opened the door, holding it open for Derek, who rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘you do not wear the pants in this relationship’. Stiles ignored it.

When they got back to the pool, Laura was with Parrish by the drinks table, grabbing glasses of wine.

‘Where’s Anna?’, she asked with a frown on her face.

‘Sleeping in Stiles’ room. He read to her, that’s why we took so long.’, Derek explained, grabbing a cupcake.

Laura turned to Stiles, a judgmental look in her eyes. ‘You let my niece sleep in a teenage boy’s room? That’s probably still filled with dirty socks and other things I don’t really want to think about?’

Stiles pulled a face, while Derek snorted.

‘That room is like her heaven’, the older man explained. ‘She’s cuddling a teddy bear that’s bigger than her and sleeping in Batman sheets, seeing at least five different action figures from her vantage point.’

‘Whoa’, Laura blinks. ‘You still have sheets from when you were in highschool?’

Stiles blushed and ducked his head, while Parrish started laughing.

‘Scott gave him those last year for Christmas.’

Laura and Derek started cackling, while Stiles tried to raise his chin and look dignified.

‘Yeah, well. Anna loved them, so expect her to be asking for some in the near future.’

They both stopped laughing instantly.

‘God damn it’, Derek sighed, with feeling.

Stiles laughed.

(◡‿◡✿)

Anna woke up an hour later, on her own. She slowly walked straight to Derek’s chair, rubbing sleepily at her eyes and mumbling. Derek picked her up and set her on his lap, Anna quickly putting her head in the crook of his neck, rounding her feet across his waist. Derek rubbed a hand down her back and let her stay like that, all the while continuing the conversation he was having with Parrish.

Stiles looked on with a smile on his face, but some confusion must have been visible on his face, because Laura tapped his arm.

‘Sleepy cuddles are a tradition’, she winked. ‘She is not a morning person.’

‘I used to fall asleep on the stairs’, Stiles smiled at her. ‘On my way down to breakfast.’

‘Are there pictures?’, she grinned.

‘Probably’, he shrugged. ‘Just… wait until I leave town. I don’t wanna know about it.’

Anna started moving then, lifting her head and giving Derek a kiss on the cheek. She then turned her head around and made grabby hands for Stiles. He was startled, but Derek wasn’t, quickly grabbing her and handing her over.

Stiles put her in his lap, with her legs hanging on one side.

‘Sleep well?’, he smiled down at her.

‘Mhm’, she nodded. ‘The teddy kept me warm.’

‘Well that is his job’.

‘Stiles? When do we go for park and pancakes?’, she asked, looking up at him with big eyes.

‘Whenever’s good for your dad, cause he said he’s gonna come with us.’

‘It starts raining on Friday’, Derek said. ‘Are you free tomorrow?’

‘Sure’, Stiles nodded. ‘But we should go in the morning. 10ish?’

Derek nodded and Anna started bouncing excitedly. So of course Stiles stood up and took her with him, spinning her in the air and blowing raspberries on her belly, much to her amusement.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Allison coming towards him, a bewildered look on her face. She put a hand on his arm, completely ignoring the toddler he was holding, and spoke in a high pitched voice.

‘Melissa and your dad are talking about how they want grandchildren.’

‘Awh’, Stiles laughs. ‘That’s good, isn’t it? It means that when you decide to have children, they’ll be prepared and won’t go through a midlife crisis.’

‘Stiles’, Allison says urgently. ‘They’re talking like they want to have grandchildren tomorrow.’

‘Well, as long as they don’t decide _they_ wanna have kids…’, he shrugs.

Allison raised an eyebrow. ‘Stiles. Put Anna down and stop giving them ideas, because considering I’m the only one with a uterus in the family, who do you think’s gonna get in trouble?’

Laura started laughing really hard, at that point. Looking over, Stiles saw Derek and Parrish biting their lips. He turned back towards Allison and raised an eyebrow.

‘One: you know they’re just teasing. Two: I am never going to put Anna down’, he emphasized this by throwing her up in the air a bit and catching her quickly, holding her tightly. ‘Three: you should be talking to your husband about this, not to me.’

‘But-‘, she tried.

‘Nope’, Stiles shook his head. ‘You need to talk with the future father of your child, not the future godfather.’

Allison sighed, defeated. ‘I hate you’, she says, and leaves.

‘You know’, Laura was still laughing. ‘Chris has been complaining about her not getting pregnant for a couple of months now.’

Stiles snickered, finally putting Anna down.

 (✿◠‿◠)

The Hales were the last people to leave, not counting Scott, Allison and their parents, who always stuck around to help clean up.

Derek politely shook hands with the Sheriff and Chris, giving Scott a pat on the back and a genuine smile to Allison. Laura kissed everyone’s cheek, and Anna demanded goodbye hugs from Stiles and his father. Stiles was happy to comply, and the Sheriff seemed surprise, but everybody saw his reluctance melting away when Anna wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed his cheek.

When they were alone, Melissa raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Stiles and nudged his side.

‘Just how in love with Derek are you?’

He spluttered. And probably blushed furiously for a couple of seconds, but in the end, this was Melissa he was talking to, so he sighed and rested his head on her shoulder, her hand immediately coming up to pet his hair.

‘Not as much as I love Anna’, he whispered.

Melissa hummed. ‘I’m pretty sure she loves you as much as you love her.’

‘I’m pretty sure Derek’s straight’.

‘Well I don’t know about that.’, Melissa smiled. ‘His whole face changes when he looks at you. I won’t say it’s soft, cause the man’s as hard as a mountain, but it is a lot more… content.’

‘That’s Anna’, Stiles smiled. ‘That’s what he looks like when he looks at Anna.’

‘Yeah well’, Melissa shrugged, moving Stiles along with her. ‘You didn’t spend all the time with her in your arms today.’

‘Look’, Stiles sighed, turning around a bit and hugging Melissa properly, burying his face in her hair. ‘I know you’re trying to make me feel better, but I don’t think I need to be getting my hopes up. It’s nice, it’s good, this is good. Being friends with Derek and getting to spend time with Anna.’

‘You’re lonely, though.’, Melissa said softly, gently rubbing his back.

‘I’m fine’, he sighed. ‘Promise. I’m in a good place. Never thought I’d get here.’

‘What do you mean?’, Melissa pushed him away a  bit, so that she could look at him.

‘After the accident’, Stiles explained. ‘I didn’t think I’d be able to be normal again. And this is normal, I’m normal. And I am good, I promise you, I am in a good place. And I am enjoying this place, ya know. It’s nice and cozy.’

‘That’s my hair, Stiles’, Melissa snickered, but pulled him back into a tight hug.

‘Are you two cuddling?’, they heard the Sheriff’s voice say, and when they turned around, they saw him and Scott watching them with a slightly alarmed expression.  

‘He’s just jealous’, Melissa smiled and held Stiles harder.

‘Cuddles!’, Scott yelped and hugged the Sheriff from behind, startling him and almost making them fall to the ground.

The Stilinskis and their extended family ended their Christmas barbecue with smiles on their faces. Stiles ended it by spending a good hour on the floor of his room, wrapping his Christmas gifts for the Hales.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more chapter left, guys!


	7. Merry Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to address something.  
> It was brought to my attention that this isn't that much of a Sterek fic. That we don't have the snark and the banter, the tension (sexual or no) that we're used to having between them. That for Stiles, it feels more about Anna, than about Derek.  
> And I agree. But, let me explain.  
> The way I saw this fic, all of that would come after Stiles and Derek started dating. When they'd get to spend some time alone, without Anna around. Spoiler alert: this fic won't be dealing with that:). I should tag this with pre-slash, yeah, gonna do that now.  
> If you're still here, thank you so much for reading this. I appreciate all the comments and kudos, and thank you for the support. Thank you, my sweets. Hugs and kisses.

When Derek opened the door of Laura’s apartment the following morning, he frowned down at the bags Stiles was carrying.

‘What are those?’, he frowned some more and pointed a finger.

‘Leftovers. And some fresh cookies I made this morning. And Christmas presents.’

‘Presents?’, Anna peeked out from a corner, looking curiously at Stiles.

‘Yup. Think your dad’s gonna let me in so you could have at it?’

Derek seemed to snap out of whatever funk he was in, stepping aside and letting Stiles into the apartment, yelling for Laura to put pants on.

He handed Derek the bags containing the food, telling him to go deal with them in the kitchen, while he went into the living room, a bouncy Anna following him. Stiles barely spared a glance around the room, just went straight to the decorated Christmas tree in the corner, and sat down on the floor near it, putting the bags between his legs and grinning up at Anna.

She sat down on the coffee table and watched him with big, curious eyes. Laura made her way into the room as well, she was wearing shorts and one of Derek’s t-shirts. She lifted an eyebrow at him but said nothing, sitting crossed legged on the couch, facing him.

‘We should wait for your daddy, shouldn’t we?’, Stiles asked Anna.

She nodded, but didn’t really take her eyes off the bags. She was wearing a pair of long blue jeans and a dark green long-sleeved shirt that looked incredibly comfortable. Stiles snorted when he saw that her socks had little bananas on them.

When Derek entered the room, he froze for a couple of seconds, just looking at Stiles.

‘You look evil’, is what he said.

Stiles spluttered and glared, but in the end, he pointed a finger at the couch and ordered him to sit. Derek obliged, but he still looked confused.

‘I thought we were going for a walk?’, he tried.

‘In a minute’, Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘There are presents to be handed out before that. Wanna help me with that, sweets?’, he asked Anna.

She stood up and nodded, approaching him slowly. Stiles handed her a gift that was wrapped in bright pink paper, with a yellow bow on it. Stiles mouthed ‘Laura’, and Anna quickly made her way to her aunt, handing her the present.

‘Can I stay here and see what she got?’, she asked Stiles.

He laughed, but agreed nonetheless.

Laura ripped through the paper quickly enough, finding a bright pink box.

‘This is frustrating’, she told Stiles, while pulling the lid off of it.

She first got out a baking book ‘for dummies’, making Derek laugh out loud. Laura glared at Stiles for a couple of seconds, but then she shrugged and nodded, putting the book down. Under that, she found a small teddy bear that was clearly a lady, wearing a business suit, with a skirt and a blazer, complete with a briefcase. Laura laughed and asked Anna to put it on top of the TV, much to the girl's excitement.

Then, Laura got out a small jewelry box, furiously frowning down at it. But she did open it, and her eyes grew wide when she saw the earrings inside of it. They were small, but they were gold, and shaped like a little half moon with a tiny star nearby.

‘I love them’, she smiled at Stiles, and he knew she meant it.

‘I’m glad. Now, Anna, your dad’s next. But this one’, he said, pulling out a bigger box wrapped a dark blue paper, ‘is kinda heavy.’

‘I can push it.’, she said, determined, so Stiles put it on the ground.

Anna managed to push it all the way to her dad, who picked it up and put it on his lap. He was frowning all the while, and he took an incredibly long time to unwrap it, unsticking all of the tape, rather than ripping the paper.

‘Is that an actual typewriter?’, Laura clapped her hands, edging closer to her brother so she could look at the box he was holding.

‘Uh-huh’, Derek wheezed out, seemingly shocked, slowly opening the box. He pulled the typewriter out, and put it on the coffee table, next to where Anna was sitting. It was a pretty classical looking thing, even if it was the latest available model. But it was a dark pearl blue, with warm copper accents, and the keyboards made the typical sound you’d expect from an old typewriter.

‘I know it’s not practical’, Stiles said softly. ‘But-‘

‘I love it’, Derek interrupted, finally turning his head and looking at Stiles.

‘He’s wanted one since highschool’, Laura told Stiles.

He nodded and took his eyes off Derek, moving them to Anna. ‘Your turn, sweets.’

She rushed over to Stiles, sitting down on the floor in front of him, smiling up at him. He got out the last box, about the size of Derek’s, but wrapped in bright red paper, with a giant gold bow.

‘Iron Man colors!’, she laughed, struggling to rip the paper, but managing it, eventually.

She found a gold box underneath, which she quickly took the lid off of, looking curiously inside. The first thing she got out was a bright blue dress, with a puffy tutu skirt and big white polka dots on the top part of it.

‘So pretty!’, she cooed, putting the dress next up to herseld, making sure it fitted, then carefully folding it back up and putting it on the floor next to her.

Then she got out a dark grey hoodie, that was very fluffy and had a wolf head on the hood, complete with little wolf ears.

‘Now I can be the wolf, and daddy can be little red riding hood!’, she shrieked, excitedly.

‘That’s exactly what I thought’, Stiles grinned at Derek, who was shaking his head, but smiling nonetheless.

Anna put the hoodie on, telling her father that she has to wear it now, cause it gets cold in the woods. He didn’t disagree. Then, she took out the last things from the box, a set of Batman sheets, to which she grinned excitedly, while Derek and Laura rolled their eyes; and then she opened the small jewelry box she got, similar to the one her aunt had received, screaming in delight and looking wide eyed at Stiles.

‘Avengers!’, she said, looking at the simple silver pendant, shaped as an A, written in the typical Avengers font.

‘It’s also the first letter of your name’, Stiles smiled, while Anna made her way towards him and asked him to put it around her neck. When he was done, Anna turned around and furiously kissed his face, knocking him over with the power and excitement behind it. They both fell to the floor, Anna mostly sitting on his chest, but she didn’t stop kissing him. Laura took a few pictures, Stiles heard the shutter of her phone. He wanted to glare, but he was too busy tickling Anna. After a few minutes of shenanigans, Derek got Anna off of him.

‘What do we say?’, he asked her pointedly.

‘Thank you, Stiles! I looooove you’, she shrieked, pulling the hood over her head.

‘You’re very welcome, cupcake.’

‘Good thing I was smart enough to tell Derek to bring your Christmas present here.’, Laura snickered, making her way to a bookshelf, getting a package wrapped in yellow paper, and throwing it at his head.

Stiles caught it easily and looked at it with suspicion.

‘Merry late Christmas, doofus.’, Laura grinned.

When Stiles ripped open the paper, he found three books in it. One was a how-to book on knitting, Laura explaining to him that it was supposed to help him fill the night shifts at the pool. He just laughed and put the book down next to him. The second one was Derek’s first proper novel, illustrated by him, still unpublished, his first work for young adults. Stiles was very excited to read it, because Derek hasn’t said anything about it, just that he was working on something a bit more complex than his graphic novels.

But the third book, that was the most important one, and it took Stiles’ breath away. It was a book with pictures from Getty Images, all of them taken at the Summer Olympics, the year Stiles was part of the team.

‘You’re in a few of them’, Derek said, softly. ‘We bookmarked them, but uh… Check page 120.’

Stiles did just that, and he started laughing, even though there were tears in the corner of his eyes. The picture was absolutely amazing. It was taken after the award ceremony for the single race, backstage. He was grinning widely at the camera, cheekily biting into the gold medal. In the background of the picture, you could see his team mates and coach, coming towards him, yelling and waving their hands around. They were blurred, but the whole picture was absolutely radiating happiness.

‘How the hell did you find this?’, he asked, chuckling at the crooked grin of his 16 year old self.

‘I found it in a small book store in San Francisco, a friend of mine owns it.’, Derek explained. ‘It just caught my eye and I started flicking through it. I didn’t actually expect to see your baby face grinning at me’, he smiled. ‘But I… Told my friend about you, and he managed to track down 10 more copies. They’re all yours.’

‘You’re insane.’, Stiles breathed out, but he was laughing and his eyes were teary.

‘You got me a fucking typewriter.’, Derek shook his head.

‘Language, Daddy.’, Anna pointed out, sticking out her hand. Derek wordlessly pulled out a $5 bill out of his pocket and handed it to her, not once taking his eyes off Stiles.

After a few seconds of silence, in which Derek and Stiles just stared at each other, smiles on their faces, Laura sighed, overly dramatic. ‘Weren’t you supposed to go out and leave me alone?’

(◡‿◡✿)

They took Stiles’ jeep, driving to the parking lot at the end of the preserve, where several hiking tracks started. Stiles made sure to choose the one that was easy enough for Anna to be able to keep up, but also didn’t pass anywhere near the old Hale house. Derek didn’t comment on it, but he seemed to let out a big sigh of relief when Stiles started down the track.

They walked at a pretty leisurely pace, Anna a few feet in front of them. She kept asking questions, about the trees and the flowers, and Stiles did his best to answer. Derek pitched in every now and then, mostly starting his sentences with ‘My mother once told me’. There was a bitter scent in the air, but Derek was smiling and he looked comfortable, so Stiles was enjoying himself.

At one point, when they got to a clearing, Anna started running around, so of course Stiles tried to catch her. She was shrieking in delight, and he was laughing, and Derek took a few pictures of them, but after a couple of minutes he ended up joining their game. Ten minutes later, Derek was sitting down on his jacket, leaning against a big tree. Stiles didn’t bother setting his jacket down, he just sat on the leaves that were scattered all over, resting his head on Derek’s feet.

Anna spent the next 5 minutes picking up flowers and making herself a bracelet out of them. Stiles was impressed by her skills, so he let her sit on him. She crossed her hands over his chest and rested her head on them. So Stiles was left looking very up-close at Anna, who looked absolutely adorable in the soft December sun, smiling down at him from under her wolf hoodie.

Derek took some more pictures of them. From his vantage point, a bit above them, with the sun coming from behind them, creating harsh shadows next to soft areas of light, Anna grinning brightly and Stiles smiling at her, feeling calmer than he has in years… well. One picture came out pretty amazing. So Stiles set it as his phone background and sent it to his father, Scott and Lydia, and Derek sent it to Laura. They laughed at the ridiculous responses.

When it was time to get back, Anna whined that she was tired. So Derek carried her the first half of the way, and Stiles carried her the other half.

When they got to the diner, Anna shrieked about a police car even before she got out of the Jeep. When Stiles followed her out of the car, he sees Anna hugging a slightly bewildered Parrish, who was just standing there, shocked, looking down at her, but smiling and petting her hair. The Sheriff stood behind them, laughing softly, while Derek mumbled something about how she’ll be the death of him, blushing and making his way towards the squad car.

‘Anna, you might want to detach yourself from the nice deputy’, Derek smiled down at his daughter. ‘I think he might still need his legs.’

‘Sorry’, she smiled innocently up at Parrish.

‘It’s good to see you too, Anna’, he chuckled, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

‘Join us for pancakes?’, the Sheriff asked then, looking at Derek.

He nodded, just as Stiles said that he was paying.

Anna happily shrieked ‘pancakes’, taking the Sheriff’s hand, much to his surprise, and dragging him towards the entrance. Derek opened his mouth to say something, but Stiles gently slapped his chest.

‘You know’, Stiles smiled, nudging Derek towards the diner. ‘She gets attached quickly, I’ll give you that. But it’s not like we don’t adore her.’

‘Totally’, Kyle agreed, nodding seriously. ‘How could we not? I’ve never seen a more adorable kid.’

‘Try saying that again after she wakes you up at 6am, knowing Stiles was coming over at 10.’, Derek grumbled.

Stiles just grinned happily. ‘She looooves me. She said so today.’

Parrish whined, startling the other two men.

‘He’s not going to stop saying that for a few weeks’, he explained to Derek, quite seriously. ‘The whole town is going to find out that she said it, he’ll make sure of it.’

‘You’re just jealous’, Stiles pouted.

‘You’re just a self absorbed prick’, Kyle shot back, stepping inside the diner, walking over to the booth where the Sheriff and Anna were already seated.

‘But you looooove me’, Stiles sang obnoxiously, more loudly than he should.

‘I was high on morphine when I said that’, Kyle grumbled. ‘I also told my phone I loved it, and all the nurses.’

Stiles just grinned and picked Anna up, getting in the booth between her and the window, Derek sitting on her other side, the Sheriff and Parrish sitting next to each other across from them.

They ate pancakes and drank coffee, joking around and laughing, the policemen telling stories about the mischief Stiles got up to when he was younger, much to Derek’s amusement.

At one point, Stiles must have gotten sauce on his chin, because next thing he knows, Anna is wiping at it with a tissue. Parrish coos, out loud, and snaps a picture of it, quickly sending it to Laura.

In the next minute, all the men at the table, including the Sheriff, receive a picture of Laura, at a ridiculous angle, she had raised her hands up high so she could get her whole body in the shot. She was on her couch, feet crossed on the coffee table. She was still wearing shorts and Derek’s t-shirt, her toe nails were painted bright yellow and they could still see the polish bottle on the table. The tv was playing an episode of Supernatural, Stiles’ mind supplied after seeing Jensen Ackles’ face on the screen, there was a huge mug of coffee on the table and a couple of empty candy wrappers. There was also a pocket mirror, some scissors and tweezers, and several tubes of cream scattered around.

 _You’re interrupting my alone-girly-time_ , the text said. _Stop it with the cute pictures, I almost ended up without eyebrows._

‘That’s way too much info’, the Sheriff sighed dramatically. Derek rolled his eyes, Stiles laughed quietly, and Kyle was studying the picture with a raised eyebrow. Stiles chose not to comment on it, and showed Anna the picture instead.

‘Awh’, she smiled, ‘that’s the actor Laura says looks as good as you’, she told Parrish.

Who dropped his phone in his coffee mug. Stiles laughed until there were tears in his eyes.

(✿◠‿◠)

Stiles woke up the next morning to a text from Derek, who was asking him if he’d like to have dinner that evening. Stiles thought the phrasing was a bit weird, and he found it even more peculiar when Derek told him he had made reservations at one of the nicest restaurants in town. But it was Italian, and it was Derek, so Stiles happily agreed to join him.

But he did put on a pair of khaki slacks and a nice navy blue button up. When Derek picked him up, he was wearing his normal black jeans, but he had also opted for a nice shirt, in a dark olive that made his eyes stand out. He was smiling widely when Stiles yelled a hasty goodbye to his father, and he opened the door of his car for Stiles. He was about to protest, but before he got to open his mouth, Derek raised an amused eyebrow and left the car door wide open, stepping around to get into the driver’s seat.

‘I see what you did there’, Stiles pouted, making Derek grin even harder.

‘Just get in the car, Stiles.’

‘Yes, sir.’

(◡‿◡✿)

Dinner was absolutely lovely. Good food, the restaurant was really cozy and there was soft jazz music playing in the background. Stiles and Derek talked about a lot of things, carefree and just enjoying each other’s company.

He realized that they don't spend a lot of time together, just the two of them. Derek came over to the pool once or twice a week, when Stiles had the night shift, but that time was used for swimming, not for talking. And Stiles liked watching Derek like this, he was different from the Derek he knew by now. For once, he swore, not having to worry about Anna and her swear jar. Derek was even more sarcastic than usual, and Stiles was surprised to find out that Derek was somewhat of an asshole. But that was okay, because Stiles was an asshole too.

So they spent the evening talking about a lot of things, but bickering a lot more that they were used to, insulting each other every chance they got. But it was okay, because they were doing it with smiles on their faces.

Stiles’ heart clenched, because he cared about Derek a lot. But as much as he wanted to fall asleep in his arms, seeing Derek like this, it was enough. Friends were hard to find, especially for Stiles, so he found himself realizing just how happy he was to have Derek, Laura and Anna in his life.

He smiled until his face hurt. But it was okay, cause Derek was doing the same.

(✿◠‿◠)

When Derek drove him back to the Sheriff’s house, he surprised Stiles by walking him to the doorway.

‘Do you wanna come in?’, he asked, somewhat awkwardly. ‘Coffee or something?’

‘No’, Derek smiled. ‘I should get home and tuck Anna in, you know how she gets.’

‘Yeah’, Stiles smiled fondly. ‘I bet Laura’s having an amazing evening.’

Derek laughed. ‘I had a great time. Maybe we could do this again.’

‘Of course.’, Stiles grinned. ‘And some midnight swimming, too. We should do that again when we get back.’

Derek nodded and kissed him softly on the cheek, letting his lips linger there for a few moments.

Stiles froze. But when Derek pulled away, he was smiling.

‘Was this a date?’, Stiles shrieked.

‘Yes’, Derek nodded, amused. But then, his face fell. ‘You didn’t know this was a date?’

Stiles shook his head.

‘Oh god’, they said at the same time, Stiles in shock and Derek in dread.

Then Derek blushed furiously, taking a step back, shaking his head and stammering over his words.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think you’d… No, I shouldn’t have… Look, I’ll-‘

Stiles took a step forward, grabbing onto his arms and trying to calm down his own erratic heartbeat.

‘You’ll forgive me for being an idiot and we’ll laugh about this when we go out on another date?’

Derek froze, and his eyes skipped from Stiles’ eyes, to his lips, to the place where their hands touched. But he didn’t say anything.

So Stiles took a deep breath, and moved his hand down Derek’s arms, intertwining their fingers and giving a soft squeeze.

‘I’ve wanted this for months’, he whispered. ‘I didn’t think I’d get to have it, that’s why I didn’t realize this was a date.’

Derek swallowed. ‘And you want to go on another one?’

Stiles nodded. ‘One, two, a thousand, a billion. How many you can handle.’

Derek just stared at him for a couple of seconds, but then he sighed and all the tension seemed to leave his body. He sagged forward, resting his head against Stiles’ neck, letting out a big puff of air that made goosebumps appear on Stiles’ skin.

Slowly, Derek raised his arms and brought them around Stiles’ waist, hugging him tightly and bringing their bodies close. Stiles’ hands moved onto Derek’s back, one of them resting on the back of his neck, and he started playing with the hair he found there. It was soft, and that made Stiles smile.

They stayed like that for a while, Stiles doesn’t really know how long. He just took everything in, the scent of Derek’s hair gel, the feeling of his strong hands against his skin, gently moving a thumb under the hem of Stiles’ shirt, caressing the skin he found, sending a pulse of electricity over Stiles’ spine.

‘Hey’, he whispered softly a while later, moving Derek’s head up, so that they were looking at each other.

Derek’s eyes were locked on Stiles lips, and he felt himself blush. But he wet them, and smiled, and then he pushed forward, closing his eyes the second his lips touched Derek’s. It was sweet, and slow, so very slow, but it made Stiles absolutely melt into the heat of it. It was exploratory, and curious, and when he dug his nails into Derek’s back, he smiled against Stiles’ lips.

Stiles felt the kiss all the way down to his toes, and his heartbeat still hadn’t slowed down, but that was okay, because he could feel Derek’s pulse against his fingers, and his was the same.

(◡‿◡✿)

An hour later, Stiles got a text from Laura.

Laura: _Did you really not figure out that he’s been wanting to date you for so long?_  
Stiles: _No, I was too busy keeping down my gigantic crush on him.  
_ Laura: _You’re idiots. Both of you.  
_ Stiles: _Sure. Let me know how your first date with Parrish goes.  
_ Laura: _I don’t have a date with Parrish._

Stiles didn’t bother answering. Instead, he called Parrish, and very boldly told him to get his head out of his ass, and ask Laura out.

‘What?’, is how he answered, after a beat of silence.

‘I just went on a date with Derek, which I didn’t even know was a date until he kissed me goodnight. So, get your head out of your ass, figure out how much you care about her, open your eyes and see how much she cares about you, buy her some flowers and ask her out, because, and I swear, Parrish, you’d be so good for each other, I can’t even use words to explain it. And if Derek and I could do it, so can you.’

Parrish was silent for a while, and then he coughed. ‘Your father is looking very oddly at me.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Good, good, you’re with him, that’s great. Ask him about his opinion too, if you wish, and call Laura.’

He hung up, threw himself on the bed, and fell asleep with a huge smile on his face.

(◡‿◡✿)

The next time he saw Derek, it was New Year's Eve, and Stiles didn’t know how to act. Not because of Derek, but because of Anna. He didn’t know if Derek spoke with her, if she understood or if she’d have a problem with them being together.

But Derek blew all the questions out of his mind, when he pulled Stiles in for a soft kiss as soon as he saw him, even though he was holding Anna up.

She whined, and pushed their faces apart with her little hands, making Stiles’ heart clench for half a second. Until she pouted and wrapped her arms around Stiles’ neck, saying that she wanted Stiles kisses too.

(◡‿◡✿)

That was the best New Year's Eve Stiles ever had. Midnight found him with Derek’s arms around his waist, and his hands tangled in Anna’s hair, Laura snapping pictures of them at every occasion (all the while holding Parrish’s hand), Allison and Scott looking wistfully at them (and Stiles knew he was going to be a godfather sooner rather than later) and the Sheriff smiling at them so widely (Stiles really couldn’t remember the last time he saw him smile that much).

Stiles was happy, Derek was happy, and Anna was struggling to stay awake, cuddling between them.


End file.
